Clandon Park & Hatchlands Park
Clandon Park is a Palladian mansion near the village of West Clandon in Surrey with landscaped gardens designed by the great ‘Capability’ Brown. It is run by the National Trust. In neighbouring East Clandon is Hatchlands Park, an elegant red-brick country house with 430 acres of surrounding gardens.
Since 1641, Clandon Park has been in the hands of the Onslow family. In the 18th century they commissioned a re-design by the Venetian architect Leoni, replacing the earlier Tudor property. The building now houses the Gubbay collection of furniture and porcelain, the Ivo Forde Meissen collection of Italian comedy figures, and the Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment Museum. There is also an interesting connection with the Maori tribe of New Zealand.
Hatchlands Park initially belonged to Chertsey Abbey. By the 18th century it was owned by the Sumner family who commissioned Humphry, Joseph Bonomi, and Robert Adam to re-model it. At the end of the Victorian era, owner Baron Rendel made his own extensive changes and commissioned Gertrude Jekyll to design the gardens. The house is home to the Cobbe Collection, the world's largest grouping of historic keyboard instruments including a pianoforte reputedly made for Marie Antoinette, and instruments played by Bach, Beethoven and Mozart.