Story Search Results

Whodunit in the Library #24

...down the Chapel Hall and into the Library – I really hoped a visitor didn’t see it! In an attempt to kill them off my dad poured rat poison down the holes in the floorboards in the kitchen and our lounge. Within a couple of weeks we knew they were dead – because of the awful smell! So even when we didn’t have to worry about rats in the house, we had to contend with the stench of them decaying under the floorboards! Then my dad had a brilliant idea – he poured bleach down the holes. It did sort of have the desired effect but we’ve never forgotten that awful smell of dead rat mixed with bleach! Eventually we had to get the floor boards up and we found...

Christmas High Jinks! #31

...The sounds of La Golondrina floated through the air as Viv sat at the grand piano. How pleased she was that someone had asked them to look after this fine musical instrument for a few months. Having learned to play when she was younger, this gave Viv the opportunity to brush up on her skills as a pianist and she was thoroughly enjoying it. The piano was in the Library and suited the room perfectly. She could hear her father and an antique dealer talking in the Long Gallery as they haggled over the price of a painting that he was selling. Viv gazed out of the window as she played and thought back to the Midsummer’s Eve Ball that they’d had a few months ago. I...

Hoar Cross Hall - Life Below Stairs #35

...ld in the Chapel in the house. They were also expected to attend services 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! The 'bothy boys' hard at work!   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...

The Schoolroom Maid's Story

...THE SCHOOLROOM MAID’S STORY:       For the first 75 years of the Hall’s history about 50 servants were employed by the Meynell family in the house and grounds.  Among these was a young girl of fifteen who started work in 1920 as a Schoolroom Maid.  Her name was Miss Inez Sophia Large and she had connections to Hoar Cross through her grand-parents, William and Mary Tooth, who lived in the village where William was the blacksmith; his smithy was just along from the Meynell public house.  He had worked on the ironwork of the Hall during its construction in the 1860s.  Inez’s aunt, Constance Madeley, was the wife of the landlord at the Buffalo Inn, in...

Whodunit in the Library #24

...down the Chapel Hall and into the Library – I really hoped a visitor didn’t see it! In an attempt to kill them off my dad poured rat poison down the holes in the floorboards in the kitchen and our lounge. Within a couple of weeks we knew they were dead – because of the awful smell! So even when we didn’t have to worry about rats in the house, we had to contend with the stench of them decaying under the floorboards! Then my dad had a brilliant idea – he poured bleach down the holes. It did sort of have the desired effect but we’ve never forgotten that awful smell of dead rat mixed with bleach! Eventually we had to get the floor boards up and we found...

The History of Temple Newsam #37

...became a Chapel, the Great Hall was Jacobeanized and the oak staircase installed.  It seems likely that she felt far more 'at home' at Temple Newsam than at Hoar Cross, as the Hall must have held bad memories for her. One of Emily's own paintings   An ardent lover of art, Emily had acquired a large collection of pictures, especially those of the 17th century.  In accordance with the values of the time, though, she was against anything which was distasteful or erotic.  These particular paintings would be disposed of or 'cleaned up' by having the picture altered to conceal the offending elements!  How times have changed!   Temple Newsam house near...