Citylife in Rugeley and Cannock Chase July 2020

Hounds &
Hastings at Hoar
Cross
By Jono Oates
..........................
Situated 10 miles from Lichfield is the former stately home of
Hoar Cross Hall, now a residential resort spa, but previously
home to many generations of the Meynell-Ingram family.
The land on which the hall was built was part of the Needwood
Forest and in the 11th century belonged to Henry De Ferrers, who
owned land throughout the country following the Norman
conquest. In 1740 the Hon. Charles Talbot, a relative of the Earl of
Shrewsbury, bought the estate and it was then sold to Hugo
Meynell, another major land owner and politician. He was one of the
two MPs who represented Lichfield in Parliament in 1762. The
Meynell family claimed that their family line could be traced back to
Hugo de Grand Mesnil who was one of the few known companions
of William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings and was, again, a
significant landowner.
Hugo Meynell was a noted fox hunter and developed a breed of
hound that was quicker, fitter and had a better sense of smell than
earlier breeds. He was Master of the Fox Hounds of the Quorn
Hunt in Leicestershire and is often considered to have been the
father of modern fox hunting. Hugo married Elizabeth Ingram-
Shepherd, daughter of Charles Ingram and their son, also Hugo, was
the first to be given the surname of Meynell-Ingram.
Their grandson, yet another Hugo, married Emily Charlotte
Wood, the daughter of Sir Charles Wood, 1st Viscount Halifax and
they oversaw the construction of the current hall, which was
completed in 1871 after 10 years of building work. It was designed
by the English architect Henry Clutton and was modelled on the
design of Temple Newsam, the stately home of the Ingram family in
Yorkshire. Several months before the building had been finished
Hugo Maynell-Ingram had fallen from his hunting horse and, just a
few months after the family had
moved in, he passed away. His widow,
Emily Charlotte, remained in
residence at the family home, and
arranged for a church to be built
alongside the hall, the Church of the
Holy Angels. The church, built in her
late husband’s memory, was
completed in 1876.
The couple had no children so,
when Emily died in 1904, her brother
Fredrick Wood, who had been living
with her at Hoar Cross since Hugo
had died, took the surname of
Meynell-Ingram to continue the
family name. In 1953 the last Meynell-
Ingram to live at the hall, yet another Hugo, and his family, moved to a
smaller residence at nearby Newborough and the hall’s long association
with the Meynell-Ingram’s came to an end.
In 1970 William and Gwynyth Bickerton-Jones bought the hall and
restored it before selling to businessman Stephen Joynes MBE, who
turned it into a luxury spa hotel which saw many famous celebrity faces
over the years attending to get their relaxation fix. Just last year, the
resplendent hall was sold once again following Sir Joynes’ retirement
and is now part of the Baron’s Eden Hotel group.
Sources: www.baronseden.com/hoar-cross-hall;
www.growingupinastatelyhome.uk/blog by Viv Wilson (nee Bickerton-Jones);
www.e-voice.org.uk/hoarcross/history-of-hoar-cross.
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