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The Chapel #68

Continuing our series on the rooms that were open to the public during the 1970s at Hoar Cross Hall, we find the Garden Hall and Chapel leading off the Long Gallery at the east end of the house.  This private chapel was a later addition to the Hall and was designed by G F Bodley, the gothic revival architect, and completed in 1897 at a cost of just under £1000.  The walls have a fine linenfold panelling and the ceiling is richly decorated.  Many houses in days gone by had their own private chapel and it seems that before the chapel was built, services had been held in another room of the house.  I would imagine that Emily Meynell wanted a proper consecrated...

Christmas High Jinks #72

The sounds of 'La Golondrina' floated through the air as Viv sat at the grand piano.  How pleased she was that someone had asked them to look after this fine musical instrument for a few months.  Having learned to play when she was younger, this gave Viv the opportunity to brush up on her skills as a pianist and she was thoroughly enjoying it.  The piano was in the Library and suited the room perfectly.  She could hear her father and an antique dealer talking in the Long Gallery as they haggled over the price of a painting that he was selling.  Viv gazed out of the window as she played and thought back to the Midsummer’s Eve Ball that they’d had a few...

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...

A New Year Calamity! #75

The New Year’s Eve Ball at Hoar Cross Hall was usually the highlight of the year.  After twelve months of hard work, especially running the Mediaeval Banquets twice a week through the winter, we were always ready to see out the year in style with a big new year party.  In those days it was always black tie for the men and long dresses for the ladies – usually around 500 people bought tickets for an evening of entertainment with a dance band, disco and a meal.  At midnight a man dressed in traditional Scottish regalia, including a kilt and sporran, would pipe in the new year with his bagpipes.  Down the Long Gallery he would slowly walk and into the Ballr...

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...

Gardeners World at Hoar Cross #43

In this week's blog I am focusing again on the servants who spent their lives looking after the Meynell family along with their home and gardens. 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 wa...