THE Review has been told the owner of historic Newland House flew to the village by helicopter from London on Monday night when he learned the 17th century mansion was burning down.

Clearwell Caves proprietor Jonathan Wright, who was at the scene, said: "I don't know the guy but he was at the scene after flying quickly down from London.

"We were called because we have some horses in the field by Almshouse Road and they were panicking.

"The flames were really high – it was just devastating to a big building like that going up with all the things that are inside it.

"As I was dealing with the horses I could see a light in one of the lower rooms with a glimpse of the paintings on the walls and all the furniture laid out, and I wondered why some of it could not be rescued. A minute later the rooms were full of flames and I realised it was just too dangerous.

"I don't know the owner but I understand he has a shoot in the Golden Valley and he bought Newland House late last year and was doing it up so that he could put up the people who came to the shoot. It must be terrible for him."

Fire crews and appliances from as far as Chipping Camden in the Cotswolds and Cheltenham battled through Monday night to save historic Newland Mansion at the end of Almshouse Road.

However the 17th century building was completely gutted in a few hours and pockets of fire were still being dealt with on Tuesday morning.

Fire Control received a call at 9.36pm. Two fire engines initially attended the incident from Coleford, and immediately requested a further two fire appliances along with a aerial ladder appliance from Gloucester station.

As the situation worsened, with 30ft flames from the roof of the building, further resources were requested.

A Fire and Rescue spokesman said: "A total of 47 fire fighters, six fire engines, an aerial ladder appliance, a water carrier, the breathing apparatus tender and a damage control unit all attended this incident throughout the night.

"The property was in the process of being renovated and thankfully nobody was in there at the time of the fire.

"The cause of the fire is not yet identified and further investigations will be carried out in due course. A great deal of resources were utilised throughout the night but crews worked efficiently to tackle this large scale incident."

Police were questioning people in Newland on Tuesday morning and an investigation into the causes of the fire has been opened.