Clandon Park: Its historic past, present state & uncertain future | Ep. 88
The Country House PodcastShow Notes
How a fire reduced this 18th century Palladian house to a mere shell... and the questions that it raises. This week, Geoff and Rory are joined by Cornelia Van Der Poll - an Oxford academic and co-founder of Restore Trust - a lobbying group that encourages the National Trust to focus on its founding principles to safeguard our nation's heritage for all to enjoy. In this fascinating episode, we discuss Clandon Park in Surrey - from the architectural and social history of this wonderful Palladian-come-Baroque house (the former seat of the Earls of Onslow) to its current status as one of the most controversial country houses of recent times; after a devastating fire in 2015 reduced the house to a shell, debate continues to rage over whether to restore the house fully or do something 'alternative' with the insurance pay-out. What are your thoughts on the future of Clandon Park? Please leave comments! If you enjoy tuning in, please consider supporting us by joining one of our membership tiers on our Patreon page - we love getting to know members of our community. Please also like, share and comment as you see fit. For more information, please visit our website. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More from The Country House Podcast
In April 1930, a young socialite - cheated of her inheritance by the laws of primogeniture - walked into a Kentish ruin; no electricity, no drains, a farmyard of "squalor and slovenly disorder"... and spent what money she had to buy it.
In this episode we travel to Bournville, the extraordinary model village laid out by George Cadbury on the southern fringe of Birmingham. Part garden suburb, part moral experiment, Bournville married vernacular Arts and Crafts architecture to a Quaker vision of dignified working-class life: light, air, gardens, schools and not a pub in sight!
Some gardens demand attention. Rousham simply holds it. Tucked into the Oxfordshire countryside, this is a place where design and landscape speak in the same breath - where structure yields to softness and every view feels both composed and completely inevitable.
From the marble corridors of Newport to the draughty majesty of Blenheim Palace, Consuelo Vanderbilt was the ultimate 'Dollar Princess' - a woman who was traded in by her parents for a title she never sought.
In this second instalment with our special guest, Teddy, the 19th Earl of Derby, we are guided through the magnificent state rooms of Knowsley Hall, the Derby's privately owned stately home that sits cheek by jowl with the great industrial city of Liverpool!