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Here Comes the Bride (Part 2) #33

HERE COMES THE BRIDE (Part 2):    And so our wedding day at Hoar Cross Hall arrived bright and clear, all thoughts of solicitors, legals, fights and arrests behind us! Myself and my bridesmaids went to get our hair done in the morning and Kev slapped a piece of steak on his jaw to bring the swelling down after the rather unfortunate fight at his stag do. Fortunately, the bruise didn’t show up too much on the photos! Gavin drove my dad’s Mercedes Benz car all the way down the drive and back up the road to the church – this was one of the drawbacks of having a church in the grounds; you don’t get to drive all through the town with everyone looking at you...

Victorian Society #93

...Anglican church dominated the religious landscape and many wealthy aristocrats helped to start schools to educate children who otherwise would never have learned to read or write.  These schools belonged to the church and were known as church of England Primary Schools.  The wealthy would often set up charities to help those less fortunate than themselves along with hospitals and orphanages, of which there was much need.  Queen Victoria herself was patron of Great Ormond Street Hospital, which was set up in 1852 to particularly help children and she also became patron of the Royal Victoria Military Hospital after seeing the huge need for men returning from t...

Hoar Cross Hall - a bit of history #15

...near the church which she made into a sunken garden, surrounding it with rhododendron bushes and filling the middle part with wild flowers.  Stone steps descended down onto a path which led to a stone seat in the middle of one side of the garden; it must have been a very private and quiet place to sit and relax in the summer months. Lady Dorothy’s daughter, also called Dorothy, was born in 1908 and was an accomplished pianist and conductor of the Hoar Cross choral society and had a life long interest in the arts and music.  She also played the pipe organ in the chapel at the Hall for the morning services there.  However, this young lady didn’t want to c...

Hoar Cross Hall - Life below stairs #20

...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 th...

Hoar Cross Hall - a bit of history #11

...near the church which she made into a sunken garden, surrounding it with rhododendron bushes and filling the middle part with wild flowers.  Stone steps descended down onto a path which led to a stone seat in the middle of one side of the garden; it must have been a very private and quiet place to sit and relax in during the summer months. Lady Dorothy’s daughter, also called Dorothy, was born in 1908 and was an accomplished pianist and conductor of the Hoar Cross choral society and had a life long interest in the arts and music.  She also played the pipe organ in the chapel at the Hall for the morning services there.  However, this young lady didn’t wa...

Hoar Cross Hall - Life below stairs

...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 th...