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Gardeners' World at Hoar Cross

GARDENERS’  WORLD AT  Hoar Cross:         In it’s heyday Hoar Cross Hall had around 28 people employed to keep the 20 acres of grounds tidy and weed free.  In Victorian England the most common of all male servants was the gardener.   At Hoar Cross the head gardener had numerous under-gardeners known affectionately as ‘digging slaves’!  They were responsible for producing fruit, vegetables and growing luxury items in and out of season, much of it under glass.  Adjacent to the house was the carp pool and greenhouse area along with a palm house; next to these was a walled kitchen garden.  This supplied the house with all its fruit, vegetables a...

Queen Alexandra - my family #50

...ibrary of Hoar Cross Hall - perhaps Queen Mary brought it as a gift when she visited in the 1920s?  In it are photos of King Edward VII and other royals spending time at Balmoral and Sandringham during their holidays – a rare insight into how the royal family spent their leisure time, which in those days would never have been seen before. It also shows their travels on ships to Norway and visits to Alexandra's family in Denmark. Photos of boat trips down the Thames and tea parties with Lords and Ladies of the day are in abundance in this album along with pictures of her grandsons, the future Edward VIII who abdicated and his brother George, who later became...

Hoar Cross Hall - Life below stairs #20

...staff at Hoar Cross were well treated it seems.  The family showed their concern towards the female members of staff if they wanted to leave the house to attend a local dance, and always made sure they were escorted to and from the event by the footman.  Young maids were well protected in those times as the family were always worried about ‘undesirable’ friendships starting up, either within or outside the household.  But it seems that there was generally a good atmosphere in the house for most of the time.  The children mixed freely with the servants and Lady Mary forbid them to call the servants by their surname only, as was usual in those days.  She...

Hoar Cross Hall - Life below stairs

...staff at Hoar Cross were well treated it seems.  The family showed their concern towards the female members of staff if they wanted to leave the house to attend a local dance, and always made sure they were escorted to and from the event by the footman.  Young maids were well protected in those times as the family were always worried about ‘undesirable’ friendships starting up, either within or outside the household.  But it seems that there was generally a good atmosphere in the house for most of the time.  The children mixed freely with the servants and Lady Mary forbid them to call the servants by their surname only, as was usual in those days.  She...

Hoar Cross Hall - Life below stairs #39

...staff at Hoar Cross were well treated it seems. The family showed their concern towards the female members of staff if they wanted to leave the house to attend a local dance, and always made sure they were escorted to and from the event by the footman. Young maids were well protected in those times as the family were always worried about ‘undesirable’ friendships starting up, either within or outside the household. But it seems that there was generally a good atmosphere in the house for most of the time. The children mixed freely with the servants and Lady Mary forbid them to call the servants by their surname only, as was usual in those days. She said it w...

Ghostbusters! #8

...GHOSTBUSTERS! People were always coming to Hoar Cross Hall to either hire the place or to have a look around. In 1973, because of all the media interest in our ghosts, we had a couple of professional ghost hunters asking to stay over one night to try and find the source of the noises. They brought cases full of recording equipment and set it all up in one of the attic rooms. Rather them than me I thought! Then I had a brilliant idea and went off to tell my brother Gavin all about it. As mentioned in my first blog the attic and basement had a row of bells which the family used to summon the servants. Before the three men arrived we spent all day trying out all t...