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The country house in society #48

Country houses are to be found throughout the British Isles and are a peculiarly English phenomenon. Houses range from mediaeval manor houses to classical Palladian mansions, elegant Georgian residences to the Gothic buildings of the Victorian era. A great many have survived for two main reasons: Britain has been spared much of the havoc of war and revolution affecting other countries. Wentworth Woodhouse, Yorkshire   Wentworth Woodhouse (above) is one of the largest stately homes in Europe and was visited by King George V and Queen Mary in 1912. It is now with the Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation Trust and is much bigger than this photo shows!   The...

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...

To the Manor Born #77

...rs in the 18th century and included, along with the kitchen, a pantry, a dairy, a cheese room, maids’ rooms, store rooms and a back staircase.  Altogether there were nine bedrooms and at the bottom of the house a cellar with brewing tubs in it.  Leading off the main bedroom was a smaller room with another door to the back staircase – we called this the nursery as my younger brother Piers was born here and we assumed that the need for a doorway from the servants’ quarters meant that an 18th century nursery maid could access the room to see to a crying baby, thus ensuring the lady of the house got her beauty sleep! The rooms at the back of the house were...

The Chapel #68

...from the 18th century and complements the elegantly gilded and moulded ceiling. The walls were covered with William Morris damask, which was a beautiful gold coloured silk fabric; unfortunately it is no longer there.  In this room we had on display a four-poster bed and during the first year at the Hall we used this room to display my father's racing car and memorabilia!  What would Lady Dorothy have said to that! The Chapel   The Library door was opposite the Boudoir and one of the secret doors in the corner of that room, which looked like a door on the corridor side and a bookcase on the Library side!  This is where my brother and I would play tric...

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...

The History of Temple Newsam #37

...In 1782, Hugo Meynell's grandfather, Hugo Meynell of Quorndon, the 'father of fox hunting', married the Hon. Elizabeth Ingram Shepheard.  She was the daughter of Charles Ingram, 9th Viscount Irwin and Lord Ingram.  The family seat was Temple Newsam in Yorkshire and this was how the Hoar Cross Meynell family became associated with this great house.  Through this marriage of Hugo and Elizabeth, the Meynell family also inherited the Ingram estates in Lincolnshire, acquired by Sir Arthur Ingram in the first half of the 17th century.    In 1793 Hugo bought the Hoar Cross estate and built a hunting lodge which was known as Old Hall. Hugo and Elizabeth had six ch...