Clandon Park: Uncovering the Secrets of the Past
National Trust Curator Sophie Chessum witnessed the devastating fire at Clandon Park, Surrey on the night of April 29, 2015.
The Palladian style house, a NT property, had been built in the early 1730s by Thomas Onslow and his wife to impress and entertain their friends, and included a Marble Hall with richly carved marble fireplaces by John Michael Rysbrack. Everyone was safely evacuated, but the 2015 fire raged through the house, leaving Clandon literally open to the skies.
Firefighters and NT staff tried to salvage some of the remarkable artifacts and objects, but the inside was gutted. Planning for the house’s future started almost before the cinders had cooled. Within weeks, cranes removed the dangerous timbers and bricks and a self-supporting scaffold was designed to wrap and roof the 4-story structure. Everyone hoped for restoration, but after years of forensic investigation and consultation with experts, it was not deemed possible apart from the Speaker’s Parlour.
The NT and teams of experts developed a new approach that celebrates what survives of the 18the century building, and seeks to tell the stories about how this masterpiece was built. The fire may have destroyed much of Clandon’s interior, but it also revealed how the house was constructed and crafted. Hidden secrets from Clandon’s history now revealed include: construction dating from timbers, finding stones reused from the previous Jacobean structure, discovering hidden doorways and alcoves, and exposing the paneling in the State Bedroom.
Sophie will talk about that fateful night, show some of the salvaged fragments and objects under conservation—including the State Bed—and also explain what curators and specialists have learned about the house. She will describe the current project which gives access to spaces conserved, to offer visitors a unique “X-ray view,” and celebrate the craft skills of the people who created some of England’s greatest country houses.
Sophie Chessum, Clandon Park Senior Project Curator, National Trust
Sophie Chessum is Clandon Park’s Senior Project Curator. Chessum has been with the National Trust since 1998, when she started as a Curatorial Researcher.
Since 2002 she has been a curator for a number of internationally important houses, collections, gardens and landscapes including Clandon Park, Claremont, Hatchlands Park, Hinton Ampner, Petworth House, Polesden Lacey, The Homewood, Uppark and Woolbeding. She has been a consultancy manager at the National Trust since 2013, where she provides specific consultancy support to Ham House, Sutton House and 575 Wandsworth Road, Osterley Park, Morden Hall Park, Rainham Hall, Carlye’s House, Fenton House, Red House and 2 Willow Road.
In addition she is the curator for Ham House, Richmond Surrey. Since the fire at Clandon Park in April 2015, she has been seconded to lead the salvage elements of this project – providing curatorial expertise on the house and its collection and working closely with archaeologist and conservator.
Recovered items following the fire at Clandon Park, Surrey.
