Activists are criticizing the decision to allocate £63 million towards preserving the fire-damaged appearance of a mansion instead of restoring it, labeling it as an ‘act of barbarianism.’
Clandon Park, an 18th-century mansion, was severely damaged by a fire in 2015, marking it as one of the National Trust’s most significant disasters in history.
Initially, the National Trust had plans to reconstruct the Grade-I listed mansion after the fire. However, in 2023, it was disclosed that their approach had shifted due to expert evaluations.
The National Trust describes the project as a ‘purposeful forward-looking response’ to the fire, which will restore the exterior but lay the house ‘bare’.
The plan will maintain the fire-wrecked look for the manor house in the future.
Now activists have slammed the National Trust’s decision to add a roof terrace and elevated walkways instead of restoring the £300 million mansion to its former glory calling it an ‘act of barbarianism’, The Times reports.
The fire was possibly caused by an electrical fault in the basement, that tore through the building damaging 95 per cent of the stately home.
Struggling with the cost of maintaining the building, the Onslow family bequeathed the house to the National Trust in 1956.
It was built in the early 1730s by Thomas Onslow, 2nd Baron Onslow, to the design of the Venetian architect Giacomo Leoni.
Clandon Park, an 18th-century mansion, was left a charred shell after a fire in 2015 in what was widely regarded as the greatest disaster in the history of the National Trust
The fire was possibly caused by an electrical fault in the basement, that tore through the building damaging 95 per cent of the stately home
The historic house was also used as a military hospital during the First World War, and as a depository for the Public Records Office during World War Two
The fate of Clandon Park has become the centre of a battle within the charity and traditionalists the Restore Trust are fighting to preserve the building.
Hilary McGrady, the National Trust’s director general said: ‘Today, as in the past and future, preservation sometimes involves the judicious conservation of fragmentary remains, while elsewhere it can mean wider-ranging restoration or recreation. The right balance can only be struck place by place.’
Restore Trust lost its battle to to force the trust to restore the full interior of the house at the annual charity meeting last year and they are now fundraising for a barrister to continue opposition to the application.
The historic house was also used as a military hospital during the First World War, and as a depository for the Public Records Office during World War Two.
Before the fire gutted the Georgian mansion, it had become a popular local wedding venue and was also occasionally rented out for use in film and television, including 2008’s The Duchess, starring Keira Knightley.
The National Trust received a £63 million payout after the fire, and Restore Trust has claimed that only £23 million will be needed to restore the building’s exterior.
The National Trust has stated that it will need to use insurance money and funding from its reserves to complete the project.
Harry Mount who is campaigning to save the manor house said that the National Trust have ‘collected the insurance money for a full rebuild’ but instead ‘ the trust plans to build walkways through the empty interior’.
The National Trust received a £63 million payout after the fire, and Restore Trust has claimed that only £23 million will be needed to restore the building’s exterior
Before the fire gutted the Georgian mansion, it had become a popular local wedding venue and was also occasionally rented out for use in film and television
He added: ‘This is tantamount to asking for permission to keep a great build ing which could easily be restored- in its wrecked state.
‘If I’d applied to burn down Clandon when it was in its pristine, beautiful state, would I have got planning permission? I hope not. This is the same: seeking permission to preserve a burnt building rather than re-storing the phoenix from the flames.’
Rupert Onslow, the 8th Earl of Onslow: said: ‘They can’t put back the family history and all the portraits of all my hideous ancestors, so the place is dead. It’s not restoration that they’re doing, it’s just advertising that the place has burnt down.’
A National Trust spokesman said: ‘National Trust members voted in support of these plans at our 2023 AGM and the overwhelming majority of feedback we have received since then has been positive about the plans for Clandon. It expects to reopen Clandon Park to the public in 2029’.
