Grand plans to spend £63million on maintaining the fire-wrecked look for a Grade I listed mansion rather than restoring a 'great jewel of British architecture' is blasted as an 'act of barbarianism'
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Grand plans to spend £63 million on maintaining the fire-wrecked look for a Grade I listed mansion rather than restoring a 'great jewel of British architecture' has been called an 'act of barbarianism' by activists. 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]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/23/02/93414679-14220205-image-a-63_1734919648067.jpg)
Following the fire, the Trust initially said it hoped to rebuild the Grade-I listed mansion and said in 2023 its approach had 'evolved in response to expert assessment.'. 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 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]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/23/02/93414675-14220205-image-a-64_1734919651857.jpg)
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 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]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/23/02/93414673-14220205-image-a-65_1734919657479.jpg)
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.
![[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]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/23/02/93414671-14220205-image-a-66_1734919797534.jpg)
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.
