Clandon Park's Hidden Secrets
There have been many extraordinary moments, tough times and triumphs since the fire at Clandon Park took hold on the night of 29 April 2015. An expert team have worked tirelessly since then to make the building safe, salvage its remains and plan for its future – discovering hidden secrets along the way.
A future for Clandon Park
The Clandon Park project will bring Clandon back to life. Rather than a straightforward restoration, the unique circumstances at Clandon following the fire gave the opportunity to take a new direction. The project team is working with award-winning architects Allies and Morrison, and a wider design team including Purcell conservation architects, to make sure this is done carefully and sympathetically.
Uncovering Clandon’s secrets
The fire has revealed layer upon layer of the historic building in remarkable ways, showing how the house was built brick by brick and piece by piece by many hands over the generations. The journey the project team has taken has led to the uncovering of some of Clandon’s tightly held secrets.
Image shows the Palladio Room and Hunting Room, showing the basement and upper rooms, two days after the devastating fire.
1. Clandon’s true age
Tree-ring analysis of the fallen timbers salvaged from the fire has found that the main timbers inside the house were felled in 1729 in Finland, which means the house was likely completed in the 1730s.
2. Patchwork walls
The brick walls of the house, which helped it survive the fire, are in some places over 1 metre thick. These walls also contain stones taken from an earlier Jacobean house on the same site, which the Onslow family demolished and replaced.
3. Designing on the go
The original plan for the house wasn’t finalised when building began. Numerous doorways and alcoves, previously hidden beneath wall coverings and revealed when the fire burnt these away, show how the architect and builders kept their options open, allowing them to reshape spaces as they went.
4. A blue bedroom
The State Bedroom, which was displayed with rich red wallpaper before the fire, was originally a bright blue woodpanelled room. Large areas of this panelling are now visible.
5. Superstitious builders
The presence of protective ‘witches’ marks’ have been discovered on exposed timbers – shapes and symbols scratched into them by superstitious builders to ward off witches and evil spirits.
Find our more about Clandon Park including opening times and visitor information at www.nationaltrust.org.uk
The South-East corner the day after the fire. ©National Trust Images/James Dobson
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