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Home fit for a King #53

With the Coronation of King Charles III almost upon us, this week's blog focuses on the Palace that he now calls home – or the 'Headquarters' of the Royal Family. This residence is Buckingham Palace which is the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom and where many state occasions take place, but Buckingham Palace was originally known as Buckingham House. The building at the core of today's palace was a large townhouse built for the Duke of Buckingham in 1703 on a site that had been in private ownership for at least 150 years. It was acquired by King George III in 1761 as a private residence for Queen Charlotte and became known as Th...

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...

Meet the Neighbours - Sudbury Hall #79

...Vernon inherited the house at the age of 25; he also got married that year to a Northamptonshire heiress, Margaret Onley.  With the extra wealth that came with the marriage he built a grand new mansion on the same site which he designed himself – a Jacobean house but with the traditional Tudor structure.  He also moved the village closer to the Hall so that his servants and the tradesmen could live near at hand.  These buildings still survive today! It seems George Vernon was a very ambitious man who wanted to further his political career and having a large, impressive house helped him to move in higher social circles.  Together he and his wife had nine...

Victorian Society #93

...although there were a lot of ‘double standards’.  There was a prudish refusal to admit the existence of sex, for instance, even though educated men constantly discussed it or wrote books about it, and even had affairs or liaisons with prostitutes.   Men seemed to think this was acceptable behaviour yet if a woman had an affair she was ostracised from society! Back in the Victorian era the Anglican church dominated the religious landscape and many wealthy aristocrats helped to start schools to educate children who otherwise would never have learned to read or write.  These schools belonged to the church and were known as Church of England Primary Schools...

Victorian Fashions #95

...The Victorian era was roughly from 1830 – 1900 and saw many changes in fashion styles.  This was the era of technological advancement and the mass production of sewing machines in the 1850s and the advent of synthetic dyes introduced major changes in fashion.  This, coupled with the printing of fashion magazines, allowed the masses to become more fashion conscious – the middle classes were rising up thanks to the Industrial Revolution! Clothes were an expression of your place in society, therefore upper-class women, who didn’t need to work, could wear more elaborate dresses over layers of petticoats with tightly laced corsets.  Men would wear long froc...