Describing the drama two weeks after the fire, the novelist George Moore, wrote: 'I was sitting in my lodge reading when armed men who were perfect strangers to me came to the door and demanded the keys ... I had no option but to give up the keys, and suspecting what was on I pointed out to the leader that the house was not Colonel Moore's property. This had no effect.' (pictured: the once pristine lawns of the mansion are surrounded by foliage)