Thursday, April 30, 2015

Clandon Park damaged by fire yesterday, left "essentially a shell"

Clandon Park
18th-century Palladian mansion West Clandon, Surrey, England
A National Trust property since 1956

"On the afternoon of 29 April 2015, a fire started in the house's basement, and quickly spread to the roof. At 16:09 Surrey Fire and Rescue Service received an emergency call, and the fire was subsequently attended by a total of 16 fire engines and more than 80 personnel. While fire fighters tackled the blaze National Trust volunteers were joined by conservators in recovering items from the house. Items were first stored on the lawns then placed in bubble wrap and sent to a local storage unit.Surrey Fire and Rescue Service remained at the property until the fire was fully extinguished and then began an investigation into the cause of the fire.

A significant number of items were salvaged, but the house was left "essentially a shell" according to Dame Helen Ghosh, director general of the National Trust with the roof, ceilings and floors having fallen into the basement, leaving only one room intact." 

From Wikipedia

4 comments:

  1. What a terrible loss. Hope they were able to save irreplaceable treasures.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Really depressing news. I wonder what the rehabilitation will be.... given the changes in the Trust they could do something much more interesting than try to Copy what was there before (which would be hundreds of millions of pounds). Such a shame.

    ReplyDelete
  3. How tragic. Now to see how this jewel will be restored.

    ReplyDelete
  4. And what started the fire in the basement? Very tragic loss.

    ReplyDelete