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Meet the Neighbours - Shugborough Hall #80

The next house in this series is a mere half hour from Hoar Cross Hall and we often visited it during the summer months and later, when my children were born, we’d take them for a visit too!  Seated on the edge of Cannock Chase this elegant house was once a manor house owned by the Bishops of Lichfield, until the dissolution of the monasteries around 1540.  Later it came into the hands of the Anson family, who were ancestors of the Earls of Lichfield, and stayed there for three centuries.  William Anson’s grandson, also called William, demolished the manor house in 1693 and built a three storey building in the Neo-Classical style which forms the central p...

My Dad Bought A Mansion! #1

...ament for Lichfield and the family owned considerable property in Staffordshire, Shropshire and Derbyshire.  He bought the Hoar Cross estate in 1793 and built a hunting lodge there known as Old Hall and founded the Meynell Hunt.  It seemed the family lived here for many years until Hugo’s grandson, also Hugo, got married in 1863 and decided to build the present Hall for him and his wife, Emily Charlotte.  The house took nine years to build and was eventually finished in 1871.   Hugo and Emily had already moved in, but their new life together was soon to be cut short by a tragic accident.  Fourteen months earlier at Birch Wood on their estate Hugo had a h...

Growing up in a stately home #1

...ament for Lichfield and the family owned considerable property in Staffordshire, Shropshire and Derbyshire. He bought the Hoar Cross estate in 1793 and built a hunting lodge there known as Old Hall and founded the Meynell Hunt. It seemed the family lived here for many years until Hugo’s grandson, also Hugo, got married in 1863 and decided to build the present Hall for him and his wife, Emily Charlotte. The house took nine years to build and was eventually finished in 1871. Hugo and Emily had already moved in, but their new life together was soon to be cut short by a tragic accident. Fourteen months earlier at Birch Wood on their estate Hugo had a horse riding...

My Dad Bought a Mansion #1

...ament for Lichfield and the family owned considerable property in Staffordshire, Shropshire and Derbyshire. He bought the Hoar Cross estate in 1793 and built a hunting lodge there known as Old Hall and founded the Meynell Hunt. It seemed the family lived here for many years until Hugo’s grandson, also Hugo, got married in 1863 and decided to build the present Hall for him and his wife, Emily Charlotte. The house took nine years to build and was eventually finished in 1871. Hugo and Emily had already moved in, but their new life together was soon to be cut short by a tragic accident. Fourteen months earlier at Birch Wood on their estate Hugo had a horse riding...

A Bit Of Background #1

...ament for Lichfield and the family owned considerable property in Staffordshire, Shropshire and Derbyshire.  He bought the Hoar Cross estate in 1793 and built a hunting lodge there known as Old Hall and founded the Meynell Hunt.  It seemed the family lived here for many years until Hugo’s grandson, also Hugo, got married in 1863 and decided to build the present Hall for him and his wife, Emily Charlotte.  The house took nine years to build and was eventually finished in 1871.   Hugo and Emily had already moved in, but their new life together was soon to be cut short by a tragic accident.  Fourteen months earlier at Birch Wood on their estate Hugo had a...

New Year jinks! #11

...home near Lichfield back in the 70s when a ceiling moulding had fallen on somebody’s head.  Imagine the looks on our faces when we realised it was my own stately home he was referring to – this inspection cost us £1500 - and all because of my dad! Happy New Year!!   Don’t miss next week’s instalment:  Mediaeval Mayhem If you’d like to follow my story from the beginning, please click here and feel free to share with your friends    ...