Clandon Park salvage operation under way after fire rips through stately home

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/apr/30/clandon-park-house-fire-salvage-stately-home-surrey

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One of the UK’s finest 18th-century Palladian mansions has been left a “shell” after a devastating fire collapsed its roof, ceilings and floors.

Related: Clandon Park fire: is a marble marvel lost forever?

The interior of Grade I-listed Clandon Park House, owned by the National Trust and home to valuable historical artefacts, suffered 100% smoke and fire damage in the inferno, though much of its prized collection of furniture and art was saved.

The mansion, near Guildford in Surrey, famed for his original stucco ceilings, marble fireplaces and magnificent two-storey Marble Hall, was a popular wedding venue, with the fire leaving many couples’ plans in tatters.

About 80 firefighters tackled the blaze at its height, which sent flames shooting into the sky and stacks of dense black smoke belching out. The fire is believed to have started in the basement before spreading through voids to the roof.

Staff and volunteers were safely evacuated from the building, used in the 2008 drama The Duchess starring Keira Knightley, when the alarm was raised just after 4pm on Wednesday.

“The fire is now out but the scale of damage to the mansion has been devastating. The house is now essentially a shell, most of the roof, ceiling and floors have collapsed into the bottom of the building,”, said Dame Helen Ghosh, the National Trust’s director general, speaking from the scene.

“There is perhaps one room that is relatively untouched but, other than that, the interior is extensively damaged. The external walls are still standing. It’s a terrible sight. We have saved some significant items but certainly not everything that we wanted to save.”

The building was home to a collection of 18th-century furniture and porcelain gifted in 1969 by socialite and influential collector Hannah Gubbay, wife of David Gubbay.

Among other treasures was a Meissen collection of Italian comedy figures and Mortlake tapestries. The Surrey Infantry Museum is also based in the building. One of its centrepiece displays was a leather football from the battle of the Somme.

Witnesses said fire crews rescued paintings and furniture while the building was ablaze and lined them up on the manicured lawns. “They had put ladders up to the first floor and were sliding paintings down the ladders. The place was full of china, but you couldn’t save that,” said Mark Savage, 73, a local resident.

Another neighbour, who did not wish to be named, said she carried huge paintings from the house, and saw firefighters cutting them from the frames in the rush to save them. “They got a lot of things out, but it didn’t seem like enough” she said. “I didn’t see any of the china, and the tapestries will all have gone.”

It is too early to say what the future holds for the property, which dates to the 1720s and was built on the site of an Elizabethan property by the Venetian architect Giacomo Leoni for Lord Onslow.

One wedding was due to be held on Friday. Mark Nickols tweeted: “My brother was supposed to be getting married at Clandon House on Friday. We now have 24 hours to plan a wedding.”

Ghosh said a team was contacting the bride, neighbouring properties and the registrar about alternative arrangements.

Others who had booked the venue and took took to Twitter included Peter Page, an IT consultant who was due to get married there next month. He posted: “So sad about Clandon Park. Due to get married there on 30th May. Can any wedding venues in Surrey let me know if they have availability.”

Roger Childs, of Surrey fire and rescue service, said the intensity of the flames burnt away floorboards and ceilings. “The fire originally started, we believe, in the basement, and because it’s GradeI-listed, the fire spread through these uncontained voids and it quickly spread through the roof.”

The estate was bought by the local MP, Sir Richard Onslow, in 1641, and the house was remodelled later by members of the family, many of whom pursued political careers, with three becoming Speakers of the House of Commons.

Its landscaped gardens, designed by Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown, later featured a sunken Dutch garden and a Maori meeting house, which was originally situated near Lake Tarawera in New Zealand and provided shelter during the eruption of Mount Tarawera in 1886. It was gifted to the National Trust in 1956, and extensively restored and redecorated.

Ghosh said the windy weather had worsened the spread of the flames. “Although I’m upset by what has happened, I also feel huge pride at the tremendous work of our staff and volunteers in dealing with this terrible event,” she said.