Photo: Anthony Parkinson / Courtesy of National Trust images1/15The Marble Hall before the fire. Its ceiling depicted the mythical tale of Hercules and Omphale, along with virtues such as Fortitude and Temperance. Chessum notes that Lord Thomas Onslow, who commissioned Clandon, “looked to Europe for designers and craftsmen to create a house [that would] impress royalty and nobility.”
Photo: James Donson / Courtesy of National Trust images2/15A view of the Hall after the fire, with debris cleared out for the restoration efforts to begin.
Photo: James Donson / Courtesy of National Trust images3/15Volunteers clean the floor, while Rysbrack’s intact Carrara marble mantle depicting Bacchus can be seen in the background. The opposing mantle on the north side is of Diana, goddess of the hunt.
Photo: James Donson / Courtesy of National Trust images4/15A closer look at the contrasting levels of damage.
Photo: James Donson / Courtesy of National Trust images5/15One of the workers cleans the leg of a marble-topped table.
Photo: James Donson / Courtesy of National Trust images6/15The table’s paw-footed leg.
Photo: James Donson / Courtesy of National Trust images7/15A cherub’s head, one of the many recovered.
Photo: James Donson / Courtesy of National Trust images8/15Clandon’s fire bell, which would have fallen through from the floor above.
Photo: James Donson / Courtesy of National Trust images9/15The Hall’s statue of Venus, again practically unscathed compared with its surroundings.
Photo: Anthony Parkinson / Courtesy of National Trust images10/15The Saloon before the fire, which had been serving as a wedding venue in the recent past.
Photo: Anthony Parkinson / Courtesy of National Trust images11/15Another view of the Saloon, pre-blaze.
Photo: James Donson / Courtesy of National Trust images12/15The rubble from the above floor and ceiling, in which many metal objects have been found. The room was divided into a grid for excavators to work through square by square.
Photo: James Donson / Courtesy of National Trust images13/15Crates with salvaged items. Large fragments of the Saloon’s ceiling have been recovered in the debris.
Photo: James Donson / Courtesy of National Trust images14/15A piece of plasterwork from the Saloon.
Photo: James Donson / Courtesy of National Trust images15/15A segment of the plaster frieze.
