OLD CASTLE BURNED

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 679, 3 June 1929, Page 11

OLD CASTLE BURNED

COLLECTION DESTROYED OWNER’S DESPERATE EFFORTS All that remains today of Clearwell Castle, one of England’s stately homes near Coleford, dating from the reign of Edward 11., is a charred ruin. Recently, in the early hours of the morning, fire broke out in the upper part of the building, and, despite desperate efforts on the part of fire brigades aud local residents, in which the owner. Colonel C. G. Vereker, and his wife participated, it seemed that the castle was doomed from the beginning. Colonel Vereker. despite burns, fought the outbreak desperately until the arrival of the fire brigade, and his wife aided him. Besides Colonel and Mrs. Vereker, there were in the castle five servants, but all were warned of their danger in time. The building was blazing before the brigades could get to work, so efforts were concentrated on saving the valuables on the ground floor. As a result, before the upper rooms collapsed, practically all the valuable furniture, pictures. tapestries, and china in the reception rooms were removed. These included a Queen Anne chair. valued*at £7,500. The deeds of the castle were contained in a large safe built into a wall, and these Colonel Vereker rescued by climbing among the timbers at great risk to his life. “My life’s hope is gone,” he said afterwards. “Nothing can replace the collection which it has taken my life to make.'* The total damage is estimated at £30,000.