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Hoar Cross Hall - Life below stairs #45

This week I’ve done a history blog about the servants who lived at the Hall from the 1870s to the 1950s when the Hall became empty. They were an essential part of keeping a big house running but were often not appreciated by the aristocracy as they went about their day to day duties. The life of a servant in Victorian times was a hard one. They had to rise at 5am to clean and light all the fires and dust and polish the floors, then do a day’s work, often not getting to bed much before midnight. No wonder they didn’t live to a great age in those days! By the end of the 19th century there were nearly one and a half million servants; most young girls went in...

A Christmas Celebration #74

The final festive story is here based on true events and people that lived at Hoar Cross Hall.  “Come on, look sharp!” shouted Cook to her assistants in the kitchen.  “We’ve got a load of cooking to do for the Christmas party at the weekend and if you don’t get a move on there’ll be nothing to eat!” The kitchen maids looked at each other, stopped their gossiping and started to move a bit quicker.  Cook could be quite intimidating when she was in one of her moods.  The table was laden with pastries, jellies and fruit and the girls were just putting the finishing touches to the gingerbread biscuits before starting on the blancmange. “I love...

To the Manor Born #77

Before we moved to Hoar Cross Hall my father had bought an old manor house in the village of Shardlow, near Derby, which had previously been a vicarage among other things.  I think my parents must have had a love of historic buildings and indeed were members of the Society for the Preservation of Ancient Buildings and Monuments.  My dad had a business in Derby at the time making alabaster items such as table lamps and candlestick holders and when he bought the manor house he moved his business there, as it had lots of outbuildings for all the alabaster equipment. Some of my father's alabaster pieces   The house itself had about 17 rooms and was built i...

What the Butler Saw! #38

WHAT THE BUTLER SAW!      Anyone who’s seen Downton Abbey will remember Carter the butler. He is exactly how a butler would have been in the 19th century and, strangely enough, the butler at the Hall during the early part of the 20th century was also called Carter! Although most big houses had a house steward who was in charge of accounts and general running of the household, a butler was more commonly engaged by the wealthy. He was usually a grand, authoritarian figure, commanding respect and awe and most of the servants would have been scared to death of upsetting him! He was dressed like a gentleman of the period and generally ran the household with an...

Hallowe'en Hauntings #100

Going to sleep in a big old house is quite scary when you’re young but going to sleep in a big old house that’s haunted is even more scary!!  As we approach Hallowe'en my mind has gone back to that first winter at Hoar Cross Hall and all the scary things that happened - and that was without any trick or treaters in those days!  We quickly realised that we weren’t the only inhabitants of the house when we moved there in the 1970s.  Every time there was a windy night I could hear a window banging in the attic – all night long it kept me awake.  The next day I would go upstairs to the attics to close it but there would be no windows open or even loose.�...

Alice - the ghost in the mirror #32

Here is another ghost story for the Christmas season associated with Hoar Cross Hall. By an amazing co-incidence Lewis Carroll and Emily Meynell (who built the Hall) became acquainted when she was a child. This is their story - In 1865 Lewis Carroll wrote another story about Alice following on from ‘Alice in Wonderland’. It was called ‘Alice through the Looking Glass’. In this story Alice climbs onto the mantlepiece over the fireplace in her lounge and finds that she can climb through the mirror into another world which is reversed, just like a reflection. Once again, she encounters strange figures in a world dominated by a chess set and nursery rhyme c...