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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

...ounded in hospitals during the First World War which were often makeshift 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 a...

SKOOLS OUT FOR SUMMER! #13

...he nearby hospital to have it stitched up.  I still have a huge scar from that cut but luckily it’s on my hair line so no-one can see it! The private road also joined up to our woods near the driveway and this is the road I walked along every day, up to the main road, to catch the bus to school.  It was about half a mile but I hated walking through the woods, especially in the winter when the mornings were darker.  I was growing up now and keeping different secrets from my parents than the previous escapades with Gavin and Piers; I had started smoking!  Going into Uttoxeter every day meant I could buy cigarettes for 30p a pack and smoke them on the way ho...

The origins of the stately home #43

...So why are stately homes so called? Stately home actually means 'a large impressive old house with interesting history and usually visited by the public.' Well, I suppose they do look very 'stately' for a start but these houses were also a status symbol for the great families of England, who competed with each other to provide hospitality for the royal household who would travel around England meeting their subjects. Stately homes were huge mansions which were always beautiful and the epitome of perfect architecture, often designed by famous architects of the day. The gardens too would be perfectly landscaped to show balance, variety, sequence and colour. One o...

A New Year Calamity! #35

...en off to hospital by ambulance and we were left to clear up the mess and calm down my dad who was now worried to death about being sued! Luckily the man was OK but he did write a letter of complaint to the local council about the perils of ornamental mouldings on high ceilings. This led to a new law being made for the inspection of ceilings in businesses which held a Public Entertainment Licence. We found this out to our cost about twenty years later when our own nightclub in Leicester was subjected to a ceiling inspection – Kev asked the inspector why this strange law had been made as it seemed a bit pointless and an unnecessary expense for us. He was told t...

The Origins of the Stately Home #39

...Why are stately homes so called? Stately home actually means 'a large impressive old house with interesting history and usually visited by the public.' Well, I suppose they do look very 'stately' for a start but these houses were also a status symbol for the great families of England, who competed with each other to provide hospitality for the royal household who would travel around England meeting their subjects. Stately homes were huge mansions which were always beautiful and the epitome of perfect architecture, often designed by famous architects of the day. The gardens too would be perfectly landscaped to show balance, variety, sequence and colour. One of t...