Lambley Park
Lambley Park was built around
1894 and had been a landmark of
the village for as long as
anyone alive could remember. So
it was with sadness that such a
fine imposing building should
suffer a disastrous fire on 6th
April 2004. Lambley Park Country
House Hotel was almost totally
destroyed. Almost 20 months
later very little has changed,
except for demolition and site
clearance in preparation for a
rebuilding project.
The hotel was destroyed by a
fire accidentally started by a
firm of decorators during
refurbishment, one month prior
to re-opening with upgraded
accommodation. The fire started
under the flat roof above one of
the bays on the first floor -
apparently an area behind the
eaves (where paint was being
stripped with hot air guns) must
have become overheated and some
four hours after the hot-work
ceased the embers reached
flash-point. |
Lambley Park Country House Hotel
before the renovations. |
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15 minutes later the roof was
completely gone. After 25
minutes the fire department
arrived. The water pressure in
the hydrants in the village was
almost zero - therefore the fire
department emptied our well onto
the fire. Tankers arrived and
they emptied them onto the fire
but only to contain the fire
within the shell of the
building. |
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Many of the residents of Week
St. Mary were as devastated as
we were at the loss of the house
which had been a part of the
village life and history since
the late 1800’s. Alan and I have
been asked many times how things
are progressing and we thank all
those people for their kind
wishes and interest in the
ongoing saga. For those who do
not know the history, we moved
to Lambley Park in October 2003
and started a
refurbishment/renovation program
that was due to culminate in May
2004 with the re-opening of the
Lambley Park Country House Hotel
on 1st June 2004. Unfortunately
in April 2004 whilst the
decorators were working on the
external woodwork using hot air
guns, fire, fanned by strong
south-westerly winds destroyed
the hotel despite the valiant
efforts of the local fire
fighters. |
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Lambley Park undergoing major
renovations. |
The building was unsafe to be
left as it was, after the
devastating fire and
consequently the decision to
demolish the shell was taken.
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When faced with modern machinery
it didn't take long for our
building to become just a
memory.
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For
safety reasons the remains of
the hotel were demolished in
July 2005. Who could have
predicted how slow the wheels
would turn... Until the finances
are resolved the rebuild phase
cannot be started.
Some 20 months on the case
between the decorators and their
insurance company is still
on-going and currently rests
with a final decision yet to be
made by the Financial Ombudsman.
In anticipation of a decision
being imminent, outline planning
was sought and granted to
rebuild the hotel.
Our
intention is to continue
fighting insurance companies and
eventually secure the funds to
rebuild the Lambley Park Hotel.
In the interim Alan is putting
his 30 years experience in the
computer industry to good use
and is offering installation,
upgrades, help and advice for
those with home PC & network
requirements at village prices. |
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UPDATE DECEMBER 2011
At long last rebuilding of Lambley Park is under way. For
up-to-date news and photographs
please visit their website by clicking on the link below. |
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Lambley Park Country Hotel -
website
- email:
alan@lambley-park.co.uk |
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