Story Search Results

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...

Hickleton Hall and the Meynells #43

...in of the stately home'   If you would like to follow my story from the beginning, click here and please feel free to share with your friends.Follow me around my childhood home in my 'Tour of the Hall' – click here to view and subscribe to my youtube channel. OUT NOW!!!  'My Dad Bought a Mansion' is out in book form on Amazon - all my memoirs packed with lots of photographs from the times.  Go check it out here and let me know what you think!...

Royal visitors at Hoar Cross Hall #10

...t ones in stately homes such as Clandon Park in Surrey and Belton House in Lincolnshire. Hundreds of Britain's stately homes were turned into military hospitals as the country fast ran out of hospital beds when hundreds of thousands of wounded soldiers returned home. The Meynell family themselves offered their London home to be used during the first world war but it was not needed in the end.  During the King and Queen's tours they would have stopped at nearby stately homes that were big enough to accommodate themselves and their entourage, which would include servants, private secretaries and equerries. The whole household would be in an uproar as servants ru...

Hoar Cross Hall - a bit of history #17

...If you love to read up on the history of old houses then you'll love to hear about all the generations of people that lived at Hoar Cross Hall.  Hoar Cross was part of Needwood Forest, the 11th century lands of Henry de Ferrers. The land was passed down to Henry’s son and subsequent various people over the course of 500 years ending with the Webb family, around the 1730s, who bought the land and house known as the Manor of the Cross. This was quite a large house built on a hill near Yoxall (which is the village next to Hoar Cross). In 1740 the manor house was demolished and later the Hon. Charles Talbot bought the estate for £17,000. Eventually it was sold t...

Royal Visitors at Hoar Cross Hall #20

...t ones in stately homes such as Clandon Park in Surrey and Belton House in Lincolnshire. Hundreds of Britain's stately homes were turned into military hospitals as the country fast ran out of hospital beds when hundreds of thousands of wounded soldiers returned home. The Meynell family themselves offered their London home to be used during the First World War but it was not needed in the end. During the King and Queen's tours they would have stopped at nearby stately homes that were big enough to accommodate themselves and their entourage, which would include servants, private secretaries and equerries. The whole household would be in an uproar as servants rush...

The Tax Man Cometh #29

...My parents’ court case was finally over and my dad had six months to leave the family home, Hoar Cross Hall. In the meantime my mum had to find the funds to buy him out and he had to find another house to live in. He also had an awful lot of stuff to move too! He eventually found a house in nearby Burton-on-Trent but as it was obviously a lot smaller he had to get rid of a lot of his possessions and one of the first things to go was his Lotus Elite. He advertised it in the local paper but instead of getting a phone call from a likely buyer, the first call was from the local tax office. Back in those days they used to check advertisements in the newspapers and...