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Bacon's 'Essay on Gardens' # 56

Francis Bacon was born in 1561 and was 1st Viscount St Alban. He wrote his Essay on Gardens in 1625, a year before his death of pneumonia. He was also Lord Chancellor of England under King James I and led the advancement of both natural philosophy and scientific method and his works remained influential even in the late stages of the Scientific Revolution.  The essays he wrote between, mainly, 1612 and 1625 were about anything from love and marriage to superstitions to Gardens and any subject in between! Bacon's genius as a phrase-maker appears to great advantage in the later essays and the 'Oxford Dictionary of Quotations' includes no fewer than 91 quotations...

Meet the Neighbours - Trentham Gardens #83

This neighbour was a little further afield to Hoar Cross Hall than the other houses, as it was in Stoke-on-Trent.  However, we often visited the Gardens and I went to a few concerts there which were held in the Ballroom of the house. It was very similar to Alton Towers in that it had formal Gardens with a large house and in later years was made into pleasure grounds, although not as grand as the rides at Alton towers! Originally the Trentham site was a priory but had been demolished during the dissolution of the monasteries in Henry XIII’s reign.  In 1599 the first hall on this estate was built on the priory ruins but later in 1633 a Richard Leveson replace...

Hoar Cross Hall - A bit of History #54

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 to Hugo Meynell, who already owned huge amounts of property all over the county and was now about to add another one to his portfolio. This branch...

Meet the Neighbours - Alton Towers #82

...Trentham Gardens'   If you would like to follow my story from the beginning, please click here and feel free to share with your friends.Join me on a Tour of the Hall - click here to follow me on my YouTube channel and see all the rooms mentioned in my blogs - including the secret doors and the haunted attics! 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 and let me know what you think!Would make a great summer read!  ...

Hoar Cross Hall - a bit of history! #14

...HOAR CROSS HALL - A BIT OF HISTORY:  Due to many requests asking about the history of the house, this week I'm taking a break from my family's story to look back a few hundred years of what happened before we lived there!     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...

Hoar Cross Hall - a bit of history #15

...HOAR CROSS HALL - A BIT OF HISTORY :         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 to Hugo Meynell, who already owned huge amounts of property all over the county. This br...