News

Surrey Fire House Opened To Public

10 September 2015

By James

Clandon Park House, the Surrey stately home which was gutted by fire in April, has been opened for the first time since the blaze, general manager Alex Bush has said. The 18th-century estate will be opened on the next six Saturdays, although only the gardens will be open, as the “haunting” shell of the house is still structurally unsafe.

The fire earlier in the year destroyed large portions of the Grade I-listed house, causing the collapse of the roof and resulting in the loss of various artefacts including at least six Victoria crosses and a football kicked into no-man’s-land during the Battle of the Somme in 1916.

The open days in the coming weeks will be the last remaining chance to see the house’s Palladian exterior before scaffolding goes up to begin “painstaking” conservation work. The National Trust, which manages the property, has stated that it wants to see the house rebuilt “in some shape” over the coming years.

 

 

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