Story Search Results

Hoar Cross Hall - Life below stairs #39

...es at the church which had been built in the grounds; however, they weren’t allowed to walk down the drive to the church but had to make a detour around the perimeter of the grounds so that they wouldn’t be seen by the family! In the Victorian days a lowly housemaid earned about £10 a year compared to the house-keeper who earned the princely sum of £52 a year! The staff at Hoar Cross were well treated it seems. The family showed their concern towards the female members of staff if they wanted to leave the house to attend a local dance, and always made sure they were escorted to and from the event by the footman. Young maids were well protected in those ti...

Hickleton Hall and the Meynells #38

...This lovely Grade II listed Georgian house in South Yorkshire was once the childhood home of The Honourable Emily Charlotte Meynell who married Hugo Meynell of Hoar Cross and who, together with Hugo, built Hoar Cross Hall to be their family home in 1873, a hundred years before my family lived there.  The original house was called Hickleton Palace and had been built for Judge Francis Rodes in the 16th century but in 1745 Hickleton Hall was built just to the south of this house after the estate was bought by Godfrey Wentworth in about 1730. Thirty years later he extended the house and added two low wings, one either side, and a servants wing (see header picture)...

Growing up in a stately home #1

...is is the church that I got married in almost a hundred years later. On Hugo’s death Emily inherited many large estates and they say she was a double millionairess – which in those days was a huge amount of money! And so we moved to this house with all its history and tragedies in the summer of 1970. Old Hall - the original home of the Meynells   My family consisted of my mum and dad and two younger brothers and the five of us were about to take on a stately home in the middle of nowhere, or so it seemed to me! It was actually in the middle of Staffordshire but in an incredibly small village, more like a hamlet, with a church, a school, a few cottage...

THE TAX MAN COMETH #29

...ed in the church in the grounds and have the reception in the Hall – with all those bottles of champagne that my dad had been saving for years!   The year was now 1980 and we set a date in August, a couple of months before my dad had to leave.  It was strange having to meet up with the vicar who we had had such a fall out with when we were youngsters, when we had lit all the candles in the church one day to brighten it up.  I hoped he didn’t remember!  I also hoped he didn’t know that it was Gavin and I who had sabotaged the many Christmas and Easter high teas at the vicarage after the church services, when we would take the sandwiches apart and put t...

The Schoolroom Maid's Story

...essed for church by 10.30am.  Then she had to get herself ready and join the rest of the staff at church.  After lunch she helped Miss Dorothy change her dress again for the afternoon.  Most servants had one Sunday in four off – however, it wasn’t even a whole day off!  As they had to attend church their time off started at 2.30pm until 10.30pm and they were not allowed to be late back!  Inez worked at the Hall for two to three years but in all that time she only saw Lady Dorothy about three times.  She remembers that she wore gloves during the day to protect “her beautiful hands”.  The Long Gallery was the only family area where Inez went during...

My Dad Bought A Mansion! #1

...is is the church that I got married in almost a hundred years later.  On Hugo’s death Emily inherited many large estates and they say she was a double millionairess – which in those days was a huge amount of money!   And so we moved to this house with all its history and tragedies in the summer of 1970. My family consisted of my mum and dad and two younger brothers and the five of us were about to take on a stately home in the middle of nowhere, or so it seemed to me!  It was actually in the middle of Staffordshire but in an incredibly small village, more like a hamlet, with a church, a school, a few cottages and a village pub.  The local bus service h...