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Moving On - the end of an era #33

After ten years of growing up in a stately home (Hoar Cross hall), I have come to the end of my story. After my parents’ divorce it was agreed that my mum bought out my dad's half of the house and he had to leave his dream home forever. He and Gavin moved out to live in Burton-on-Trent and my mum carried on running Mediaeval Banquets for a few more years. She and the singer eventually got together much to my dad’s chagrin. the singer spent a lot more time at the hall helping my mum run the banquets; however, Piers didn’t really get on with him. When he was about 14 years old my dad received a phone call from Piers – he had run away from home and was ring...

the War Years and Beyond #37

the WAR YEARS AND BEYOND:     During the Second World War, life in country houses changed dramatically. It was no different at Hoar Cross hall. the flower borders on the main lawns were turfed over to reduce maintenance and vegetables were grown in areas formerly restricted to flowers. Evacuees from Birmingham came to stay for the duration of the war and they lived in the basement, as it was considered to be the safest place. I imagine that they must have been in the care of the servants as they were living amongst them but it must also have been quite exciting for them to move from a bombed out city to the relative safety of the countryside, although they mu...

Change and the Country House #61

Hoar Cross hall was clearly a very different house in the Victorian era compared to today.  Like other country houses it has not been immune from the social and economic changes affecting all walks of life over the last hundred years. At the beginning of Queen Victoria’s reign in 1837 the local landowner with his country house and estate was the focal point of the community, often dispensing law, charity and education.  the estate would also provide employment for the local people and over fifty locals were employed on the Hoar Cross estate in the house and grounds plus many more on Home Farm along with carpenters, electricians and plumbers to keep the esta...

Meet the Neighbours - Sudbury hall #79

Continuing the series on neighbouring houses to Hoar Cross hall, let me introduce you to Sudbury hall, which is about 7 miles away and on the border of Staffordshire and Derbyshire.  the manor of Sudbury was listed in the Doomsday Book following the Norman Conquest in 1086, so a lot older than the hall, and is a Grade I listed building.  the Vernon family came to Sudbury after a 16th century marriage between Sir John Vernon, from Haddon hall in Derbyshire, and the Sudbury heiress, Ellen Montgomery.  It seems the Vernon family have stayed in the hall for generations right up until the 20th century when the 10th Baron Vernon transferred the hall and its princip...

Meet the Neighbours - Shugborough hall #80

the next house in this series is a mere half hour from Hoar Cross hall and we often visited it during the summer months and later, when my children were born, we’d take them for a visit too!  Seated on the edge of Cannock Chase this elegant house was once a manor house owned by the Bishops of Lichfield, until the dissolution of the monasteries around 1540.  Later it came into the hands of the Anson family, who were ancestors of the Earls of Lichfield, and stayed there for three centuries.  William Anson’s grandson, also called William, demolished the manor house in 1693 and built a three storey building in the Neo-Classical style which forms the central p...

Hoar Cross hall - Life Below Stairs #35

This week I’ve done a history blog about the servants who lived at Hoar Cross 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...