One of the most handsome Edwardian houses in England has been gutted by fire.

The blaze at Moreton Hall in Warwickshire started at about 4.30pm on Thursday after students at the agricultural college occupying the house had left for the weekend.

Fire engines from all over Warwickshire were sent to help to extinguish the flames, which could be seen three miles away as they leapt into the sky.

The Grade II listed house was built in 1907-08 by a rich American, Charles Tuller Garland, son of the co-founder of National City Bank in New York. It was designed for lavish entertaining, with sumptuous plasterwork, particularly in the barrel-vault-ed great hall, library and dining room.

Almost all the interiors appear to have been lost, including a handsome 18th-century-style staircase with wrought-iron balustrade.

Built in the Palladian style and inspired by Wilton House near Salisbury, Moreton Hall was at first sight the perfect 18th-century house. It was designed by the fashionable society architect and decorator William Henry Romaine-Walker, who built a townhouse for the Duke of Marlborough and designed a staircase and galleries at Chats-worth. Romaine-Walker also laid out the beautiful balustraded terrace gardens.

The cause of the fire has not been established but the local church was recently attacked by arsonists. The county’s fire and rescue service said that all the remaining students and teachers based at the centre had been evacuated while more than 50 firefighters battled the blaze. A spokeswoman for the Fire Service said: “The building is completely gutted. It’s gone.”

West Midlands Ambulance Service said it was on standby to treat any injured firefighters.

Nigel Wells, an ambulance officer who was at the scene, said: “The site was a beautiful manor house. It is a real shame and very sad to see it going up in flames.”

Moreton’s hall is used for weddings and conferences but the site is also home to the Moreton Morrell Centre, the agricultural campus of Warwickshire College. The Moreton Morrell Centre includes stabling for more than 100 horses. There is also a 345-ha farm with a dairy herd, pedigree sheep flock and pedigree beef herd.

Blogs posted online said that the animals at the centre had escaped harm in the fire. One comment read: “Yeh, it’s the hall, so well away from the horses, it’s completely gone.”

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