Bridgerton in flames!
Blaze threatens mansion used in hit Netflix show
A STATELY home that serves as the ancestral seat of the Bridgerton family in the hit Netflix series came close to disaster after a fire broke out in an outhouse.
Forty firemen in eight trucks rushed to extinguish the blaze and prevent it from spreading to the 18th-century pile.
No one was injured in the fire but it destroyed brick outbuildings at Wrotham Park near South Mimms, Hertfordshire.
The Grade II listed mansion has also featured in The Crown and Downton Abbey.
The fire is believed to have started accidentally on Wednesday but crews stayed at the scene until yesterday morning as a precaution. The blaze came amid the driest July in England since 1911, following recordbreaking temperatures of more than 40C (104F) early last week.
Forecasters last night predicted the dry conditions will continue across much of England into the weekend. Experts have
‘Believed to have started accidentally’
warned some rivers are reaching critical lows and several reservoirs across the country are running extremely low.
The National Drought Group, convened by the Environment Agency, met earlier this week to discuss the prospect of declaring a drought if conditions do not improve. Such a move could lead to hosepipe bans.
The period between January and June this year was the driest in England since 1976. Dr Mark McCarthy, of the National Climate Information Centre, said: ‘Climate change is already making UK heatwaves more frequent, intense and long-lasting.’
Wrotham Park, surrounded by 300 acres of parkland, doubles up as the Bridgerton family’s Aubrey Hall.
The Palladian mansion, designed in 1754, partially burnt down in a fire in 1883. The interior was restored using more modern Victorian building techniques.