Clandon Park

About

Behind the scenes at Clandon Park, work continues throughout 2019 to develop the National Trust’s vision and masterplan for Clandon, including the first working plans for the rebuild and restoration of both the house and gardens.

In the meantime, until November visitors have the unique opportunity to see the fascinating brickwork bones of this grand Palladian mansion, in its raw, post-fire state.

Since the fire in 2015, the National Trust has opened more of the house each year to share as much of the building as possible with its visitors. This year, two purpose-built walkways take visitors into some of the most significant rooms on the ground floor, and into the basement, in to the deepest and most fire-damaged spaces of Clandon Park.

On the ground floor, the walkway allows visitors to see both the extraordinary survival of significant architectural features, as well as the extent of the fire damage in the Saloon, State Bedroom and Marble Hall. In the basement, visitors are led to the impressive and beautiful undercroft - a vaulted room under the Marble Hall - which pre-fire visitors will remember as the restaurant. This includes an exhibition charting the design challenges and key questions that the National Trust is considering during the hugely complex project, as well as a display of some of the salvaged collection items which were rescued from the house.

From the undercroft visitors can pass into a protected viewing area which gives sight of the full extent of the fire damage, with dramatic, vertical views from basement floor to scaffolding roof

At the end of the exhibition, visitors are invited to share their thoughts as the National Trust works with its architects, specialist advisers and stakeholders to develop plans for Clandon’s future. 

Visitors can also relax in the tranquil 4 acre garden.  A pictorial trail guides you through the garden, using historic images of the house and garden to whisk you back in time.

New plans for Clandon Park

National Trust reveals new plans for fire ravaged Clandon Park, offering a unique ‘X-ray’ view of how a country house is made

• Clandon Park, near Guildford, Surrey, designed by Giacomo Leoni, was catastrophically damaged by fire in April 2015
•  The Trust’s new plans will see most of the interior of Clandon thoughtfully conserved in its fire-damaged state, offering people a unique ‘X-ray’ view of how country houses were made
• The external walls and windows of the house are being restored, with work already underway by leading heritage craftspeople
• Suspended walkways and platforms will give visitors new views and perspectives through the house where floors once were
• A new roof with public terraces and roof lights will give breath-taking views down into the house from above and out across surrounding countryside 
• The Speakers’ Parlour which survived the fire will be repaired, creating a counterpoint to other rooms 
• The new Clandon will be a special place to explore how great houses were made, a backdrop for a creative programme of events, exhibitions and activities, some created with communities connected to the house

The National Trust has announced a new approach for Clandon Park, the early 18th-century house in Surrey, designed by the innovative Italian architect Giacomo Leoni and catastrophically damaged by fire in April 2015.  The fire was the most devastating in the Trust’s history. It completely destroyed the roof, many of the internal walls and floors, along with much of the decorative interior, leaving a brick shell, open to the elements and filled with several feet of fire-damaged collections and building debris. 

Immediately after the fire, work had to focus on protecting and stabilising the building and painstakingly salvaging damaged collections and building material. Over subsequent years, specialist research and investigative conservation has revealed more and more about how the house was originally designed, constructed and decorated. The Trust’s new approach to Clandon responds to the evocative spaces created by the fire and the findings the team have uncovered. 

The interiors today consist of dramatic fire-damaged spaces, some rising from the basement to the sky. These will be conserved and made fully accessible in their fire-damaged state. The Trust plans to introduce sensitively designed walkways and platforms to enable visitors to explore the interiors at different levels, alongside a new roof with public terraces and roof lights that will illuminate Clandon’s dramatic spaces. Visitors will be able to access the new roof and view the interior spaces of the house from above, as well as the breath-taking surrounding countryside