Two National Trust houses sit a short distance apart near Guildford, and they tell opposite halves of the same story. Hatchlands Park in East Clandon still has its Georgian interiors, including early work by Robert Adam. Clandon Park, a little way off, lost most of its interior to fire on 29 April 2015, exactly eleven years ago today.
Hatchlands Park, East Clandon
Hatchlands lies just east of East Clandon village, north of the A246, at East Clandon, Guildford, GU4 7RT. The estate covers 170 hectares, including an 80 hectare park. The National Trust says the house was built for the naval hero Admiral Edward Boscawen and his wife Fanny in the 1750s, with the National Trust history page giving 1756. Stiff Leadbetter replaced the old Tudor house with a red-brick neo-classical mansion. According to the National Trust Collections site, it was funded by prize money the Admiral won in the Seven Years' War.
The Adam rooms
Robert Adam created the interiors, which the National Trust describes as among his earliest English commissions. The theme is nautical: dolphins, anchors and cannon, watched over by Neptune. Adam's work was unfinished when the Admiral died in 1761.
The National Trust points to three things to look for:
The plasterwork ceilings in the Library and the Staircase Hall.
The Library's original Adam fireplace and its most elaborate ceiling.
The Saloon, with its Adam fireplace and ceiling, described as among the first of Adam's great rooms. It began as the Admiral's grand dining room, placed as far from the kitchens as possible, and now also holds a 1636 Andreas Ruckers harpsichord.
The Drawing Room has a later story: its ceiling was replaced in 1860 after the original collapsed.
The parkland and the keyboards
The National Trust says today's parkland is largely the creation of Humphry Repton, and that Gertrude Jekyll also shaped the garden. The house has been home to at least ten families over the centuries.
The house is also known for the Cobbe Collection, which the National Trust calls Europe's largest collection of keyboard instruments associated with famous composers, including JC Bach, Chopin and Elgar. Classical Music magazine names a Pleyel piano owned by Chopin and a Broadwood played and signed by Elgar among the highlights. The collection also includes Old Masters and fine furniture, much of it privately owned rather than National Trust property.
Planning a visit
Check the house days before you set out. The National Trust lists six ground-floor rooms as open from 1 March to 30 October, every day except Saturdays, from 12pm to 4pm. The parkland, café, shop and car park are open year round. Admission covers the whole site, so it pays to know whether the house is open on your day.
Prices: adults £14 (£15.40 with Gift Aid), children aged 5 to 17 £7 (£7.70 with Gift Aid), under-5s free. Members go free, and parking is free.
Access: there is a buggy service to the house and ramped access, and the downstairs showrooms are accessible.
Dogs: the park is dog-friendly.
Eating and browsing: the Kitchen Café, the Engine Room bookshop and a cobbled courtyard.
Coming up in 2026, Moomins at Hatchlands Park runs from 9 May to 5 July. From 1 June to 16 October, an exhibition called 1776: The World Turned Upside-down, free with admission, looks at how that year touched the Boscawens and the Cobbe collections. Heritage Open Day on Sunday 20 September offers free entry.
Details are on the National Trust Hatchlands page.
Clandon Park and the fire
Clandon Park was designed in the 1730s by the Venetian architect Giacomo Leoni and was famous for its marble hall and plasterwork. In the 2015 fire the roof and floors collapsed. Helen Ghosh, then the National Trust's director general, described it as reduced to essentially a shell, as reported by the Architects' Journal.
What happens next
The National Trust says the project will restore the exterior as it was before the fire, while the interiors are conserved in their fire-opened state. New features include staircases, a basement-to-roof lift, walkways, a new roof and a public roof terrace, with fully accessible visitor routes. The architects are Allies and Morrison. The Art Newspaper reports the plan as keeping most of the interior in its fire-damaged state, offering an x-ray view of how country houses were made.
The plans have been contested. In November 2023 a members' resolution at the National Trust AGM to recreate the Marble Hall and other state rooms was not carried, and the Trust says 60% of voting members supported its plans. Guildford Borough Council's planning committee unanimously approved the scheme on 6 March 2025, and planning permission and listed building consent were granted on 11 November 2025.
On 21 January 2026 the Georgian Group launched judicial review proceedings against the council's decision, arguing it was unlawful. A council spokesperson said it would argue the decision is lawful. On 12 February 2026 the High Court granted permission to proceed, which the Georgian Group says shows the claim is arguable. Building Design reported that no hearing date had been set. There is no known outcome at the time of writing.
Visiting Clandon now
The National Trust says the house at Clandon Park remains closed for 2026. The grounds are open daily from 11am to 4pm from March to September. The Trust looks after only the house and a seven-acre garden, while the wider parkland is privately owned by the Onslow family and is closed apart from marked public footpaths. Check the National Trust Clandon page for current details.
Seeing both
Hatchlands shows an Adam interior as it survives. Clandon shows what was lost, and what a preserved ruin may look like. With the two close together, a morning in the Clandon grounds followed by the Hatchlands rooms and café makes a tidy day, as long as you pick a day the Hatchlands house is open.
