Clandon Park: National Trust's restoration plans 'disappointing'

Clandon Park House was reduced to a charred shell by fire in 2015

A campaign group is urging the National Trust to restore a stately home which was gutted by a fire.

Clandon Park, an 18th Century Grade I-listed stately home, in Surrey, was reduced to a charred shell during a blaze in April 2015.

Most of the interior will be conserved in its fire-damaged state, the trust said, with suspended walkways and platforms for visitors.

Restore Trust says the building should be returned to its original state.

The fire gutted the house, leaving behind dramatic voids

Architects' visuals show how suspended walkways will allow visitors to explore the house

The blaze completely destroyed the roof plus many internal walls and floors, leaving a brick shell.

The National Trust said it had moved on from a previous idea to restore some ground floor rooms.

The fire-ravaged rooms will instead be conserved and curated in their "laid-bare" condition, except one space that survived - the Speakers' Parlour.

The external walls and windows of the house are being restored, the National Trust said, with a new roof with public terraces and lights will provide views down into the house and across the countryside.

A space on the roof will give visitors views across the countryside

Zewditu Gebreyohanes from the Restore Trust told BBC Radio Surrey: "It's very disappointing that a charity that was founded to preserve permanently this nation's buildings and national heritage has gone away from that.

"People want to come and see the glory of the house, and you can only do that if you're restoring it to what it was originally."

The marble hall was the most famous room before the fire and will be conserved in its fire-damaged state

Kent Rawlinson, the National Trust project director at Clandon Park, said: "The fire at Clandon stripped most of the house completely bare, leaving only fragments of decoration.

"Given how little of the original decorative interiors survive, it would be less a case of restoration than of complete modern replication, and that wouldn't be the right approach to take."

He told BBC Radio Surrey: "[The fire] has revealed the remarkable and fascinating story about how wonderful houses like Clandon were built.

"We're planning to take the opportunity for Clandon to tell those stories."

He said the trust was aiming to have the house open to the public again in 2028.

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