Blaze destroys Historic Cambridgeshire wedding venue
A huge fire has destroyed one of Cambridgeshire’s most popular wedding venues.
The fire broke out at the historic Chilford Hall in Linton at around 3am on 13th June. 60 firefighters attended the fire and spent several hours battling the 50ft flames.
Firefighters managed to save the house, wine store and the shop. The 18th-century Linton Barn and the Grade II-listed Great Hall, The Pavilion and Gallery were all destroyed in the fire.
Simon Alper, who worked on the renovations of the Hall for many years said: “There’s a building in the middle which is made of wood and you have a very short space of time to get to it if it catches fire, so in the middle of the night it caught hold. The fire brigade have been brilliant to save the winery and the study centre.”
The Management at Chilford Hall have been trying to book marquees in order to fulfil bookings including marriages and major conferences which are to take place in the coming weeks and months.
Mr Alper added “We are getting on the phone talking to clients and sorting out whatever we can for them. That’s the business we’re in, of looking after people – although we’ve had this devastating fire, we still have to look after them. We’re so sorry for them, we’ll do whatever we can.”
Steve Elve from Linton fire station, said: “The fire was well-established where it was set so in those buildings it was impossible to stop. Because of the hard work of the crews we managed to stop it spreading further. It’s a business everyone knows and is locally proud of so to see it lost this way will be devastating for the local area. We hope we have managed to salvage some of the operation for them to continue trading.”
Two men have been arrested in connection with the blaze and are being held at Parkside police station on suspicion of arson.