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Hoar Cross Hall - a bit of history! #14

...illage of Newborough; sadly, they were the last Meynell family to live at the Hall.  Colonel Hugo Meynell died in 1960 and his wife Jean in 1993.  After they left the Hall they sold all the contents and tried to sell the house but were unable to do so, deciding instead to rent it to a local consultant and his wife from nearby Burton-on-Trent Hospital, who stayed for nearly 10 years.  After they left in the sixties a monastic community took on the Hall intending to turn it into a Christian Community Centre and started a development plan for raising the required monies.  The monks had full use of the Hall and lived in the Lodge and Gatehouse.  Before they rec...

A Bit Of Background #1

...illage of Newborough.  A caretaker had been installed and he and his family lived in a couple of rooms on the first floor.  Their daughter was the same age as me and we soon became firm friends as we explored the house together.  The main house had a Long Gallery, a Ballroom, a Drawing Room, a Chapel and a Library with secret doors!  How I loved it – I was a big fan of The Famous Five in those days and it really did feel like I was in the middle of one of their mysteries!  There were about 15 basement rooms some of which had had the floors removed due to damp rot but the main passageway was made of flagstones so you could still walk through it – this w...

Hoar Cross Hall - a bit of history #15

...illage of Newborough; sadly, they were the last Meynell family to live at the Hall.  Colonel Hugo Meynell died in 1960 and his wife Jean in 1993.  After they left the Hall they sold all the contents and tried to sell the house but were unable to do so, deciding instead to rent it to a local consultant and his wife from nearby Burton-on-Trent Hospital, who stayed for nearly 10 years.  After they left in the sixties a monastic community took on the Hall intending to turn it into a Christian Community Centre and started a development plan for raising the required monies.  The monks had full use of the Hall and lived in the Lodge and Gatehouse.  Before they rec...

The War Years and Beyond #38

...in nearby Newborough called Hollybush Park.  I remember Mrs Meynell telling us a funny story about how her husband had come home one day and told her he had bought another house.  He was raving on about the ‘hard tennis courts, so much better than our grass ones’.  When they eventually moved into their new home, Mrs Meynell also told us how the servants were so excited to have a smaller house to clean!  How times have changed!  The Hall and contents were put up for sale after the family left in 1952 but the house failed to sell so they rented it out to a Dr Gillies and his wife, Maimi.  He was a highly regarded consultant at the local Burton General H...

Hoar Cross Hall - a bit of history #11

...illage of Newborough; sadly, they were the last Meynell family to live at the Hall.  Colonel Hugo Meynell died in 1960 and his wife Jean in 1993.  After they left the Hall they sold all the contents and tried to sell the house but were unable to do so, deciding instead to rent it to a local consultant and his wife from nearby Burton-on-Trent Hospital, who stayed for nearly 10 years.  After they left in the sixties a monastic community took on the Hall intending to turn it into a Christian Community Centre and started a development plan for raising the required monies.  The monks had full use of the Hall and lived in the Lodge and Gatehouse.  Before they rec...

Hoar Cross Hall - a bit of history #13

...illage of Newborough; sadly, they were the last Meynell family to live at the Hall. Colonel Hugo Meynell died in 1960 and his wife Jean in 1993. After they left the Hall they sold all the contents and tried to sell the house but were unable to do so, deciding instead to rent it to a local consultant and his wife from nearby Burton-on-Trent Hospital, who stayed for nearly 10 years. After they left in the sixties a monastic community took on the Hall intending to turn it into a Christian Community Centre and started a development plan for raising the required monies. The monks had full use of the Hall and lived in the Lodge and Gatehouse. Before they received the...