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Mediaeval Weaponry #84

When we moved to Hoar Cross Hall in the 1970s, my father owned the largest private collection of arms and armour in the UK at that time!  He owned about 20 suits of armour and numerous items of ‘arms’, which is another word for weapons.  The word ‘arms’ comes from the Latin ‘arma’ which means ‘tools of war’; this word passed into the English language from the French in 1200.  Mediaeval weapons consisted of halberds, double-edged swords, daggers, battle axes, crossbows and longbows to name but a few, these being the most common.  Knives were also used but mainly for eating and repairing, although I’m sure they got to be used as weapons too...

Calendar Girls and Front Covers #7

...kets with swords and other accessories from the house. They posed either topless or scantily clad in the gardens and in front of a pair of wrought iron gates (by Robert Bakewell, renowned Derbyshire ironsmith) right at the bottom of the garden. These gates linked the Ha-Ha wall. This was a wall which bordered the grounds and had a small ditch on the other side – the reason was that the ditch stopped the deer from jumping the wall; for on the other side was a deer park, although the deer had long since run off and it was just a field when we were there. The Ha-Ha wall is a French invention, the idea being that the recessed design element gives an uninterrupted...

THE GRAND OPENING #5

...e armour, swords and wall hangings – and even a Burmese Palace Chair (see blog header pic!).  Display cabinets bought at auction showed off smaller items. The biggest excitement though was seeing our house advertised on the local TV channel!  The Ball Room The Damask Room was turned into Lady Dorothy’s Boudoir complete with an 18th century four poster bed, an original bed complete with canopy and hanging curtains slept in by aristocrats throughout the centuries.  I used to love lying on the bed with the curtains closed imagining myself in another era – once I lay down on the bed and fell asleep.  When I awoke and climbed out from behind the drape...

RAGS TO RICHES! #15

...ests with swords and guns from the Boer War and the First World War.  My dad found all this stuff fascinating and started collecting it when he about 12 years old.  It started a life-long interest in antiques, culminating in him owning the largest private collection of arms and armour in the country during the 1970s.  This was why he wanted to buy a large country house so he could open it to the public and put all his antiques on display.  Perhaps there was something about his background that inspired him, without him realising.  He must have known about the stately home that his mother worked in as a young servant girl and the tragic death of his aristocra...

Rags to Riches #16

...ests with swords and guns from the Boer War and the First World War.  My dad found all this stuff fascinating and started collecting it when he about 12 years old.  It started a life-long interest in antiques, culminating in him owning the largest private collection of arms and armour in the country during the 1970s.  This was why he wanted to buy a large country house so he could open it to the public and put all his antiques on display.  Perhaps there was something about his background that inspired him, without him realising.  He must have known about the stately home that his mother worked in as a young servant girl and the tragic death of his aristocra...

Rags to Riches #12

...ests with swords and guns from the Boer War and the First World War.  My dad found all this stuff fascinating and started collecting it when he about 12 years old.  It started a life-long interest in antiques, culminating in him owning the largest private collection of arms and armour in the country during the 1970s.  This was why he wanted to buy a large country house so he could open it to the public and put all his antiques on display.  Perhaps there was something about his background that inspired him, without him realising.  He must have known about the stately home that his mother worked in as a young servant girl and the tragic death of his aristocra...