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Victorian Courtship - fans #91

For the next few months I will be doing a series on Victorian courtship starting in February, the month of love, as we have just celebrated Valentine’s Day on the 14th.  The Victorians used various items for flirting with, namely fans, gloves, parasols and handkerchiefs!  I imagine the Meynell family at Hoar Cross Hall held lots of dinner parties and Balls back in the Victorian days where most of the young ladies would have had their fans at the ready to signal to a secret beau.  But what were these signals and why were they used? The belief that the fan was used in society to express feelings or commands dates back to at least the early 18th century.  I...

Ghostbusters! #8

...we would love to explore and found a walk-in safe off one of the rooms – I think this is where they kept the family silver.  All the rooms seemed to have a smaller room off them and it was a great place to play hide and seek!  Halfway up the spiral staircases were store rooms (to one side) with slatted shelves for keeping the linen and towels to hand for the servants.  I used to stand in these large cupboards and feel myself transported back to another era, as nothing had really changed in 100 years – but not for long as they were quite dark!  All the rooms were still the same as they had been when the house was first built; same décor, everything –...

Ghostbusters! #7

...we would love to explore and found a walk-in safe off one of the basement rooms – I think this is where they kept the family silver. All the rooms seemed to have a smaller room off them and it was a great place to play hide and seek! Halfway up the spiral staircases were store rooms (to one side) with slatted shelves for keeping the linen and towels to hand for the servants. I used to stand in these large cupboards and feel myself transported back to another era, as nothing had really changed in 100 years – but not for long as they were quite dark! All the rooms were still the same as they had been when the house was first built; same décor, everything –...

Ghostbusters! #8

...ave her beloved husband who lay in the graveyard nearby - a Victorian lady has also been seen walking through the woods opposite the front door on a few occasions - so who knows! Certain parts of the house did look very spooky and gloomy though. The basement corridor and rooms particularly so. However, we would love to explore and found a walk-in safe off one of the rooms – I think this is where they kept the family silver. All the rooms seemed to have a smaller room off them and it was a great place to play hide and seek! Halfway up the spiral staircases were store rooms (to one side) with slatted shelves for keeping the linen and towels to hand for the serv...

Ghostbusters #8

...we would love to explore and found a walk-in safe off one of the rooms – I think this is where they kept the family silver. All the rooms seemed to have a smaller room off them and it was a great place to play hide and seek! Halfway up the spiral staircases were store rooms (to one side) with slatted shelves for keeping the linen and towels to hand for the servants. I used to stand in these large cupboards and feel myself transported back to another era, as nothing had really changed in 100 years – but not for long as they were quite dark! All the rooms were still the same as they had been when the house was first built; same décor, everything – so it wa...

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...