Petition is successful with 4,259 signatures
To: Exeter City Council
Exeter Fire - Rebuild Our Heritage
We Won! The Royal Clarence Hotel and the Well House Tavern pub will be completely restored!
https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/plans-major-royal-clarence-restoration-422486
Following the devastating fire on Cathedral Green, we support Exeter City Council in ensuring that the affected buildings are reconstructed sympathetically and to the highest standards of craftsmanship - both inside and out - to ensure that a characterless modern building does not end up occupying this important historic space.
Why is this important?
Like me, the people of Exeter and Devon were devastated to watch the recent destruction by fire of the beautiful and historically significant buildings on Cathedral Green - including the Clarence Hotel, the first true hotel in England.
The reconstruction of these buildings must follow the same restorative approach taken at Windsor Castle following the fire there some years ago. Sympathetic reconstruction of both internal and external fabric is the only appropriate path to follow; one that will not damage the heritage and aesthetic value of this historically important area. We must not make the same mistakes made after World War 2, when much of Exeter's surviving heritage was destroyed in a fit of modernist madness.
This is not just about restoring beauty, this is also about valuing the contribution of heritage to the economic and social life of the city and the wider county. In their recent 'Heritage Counts' report, Historic England explain the link between economy and heritage. I urge you to read the linked document and support this petition:
https://content.historicengland.org.uk/images-books/publications/heritage-and-the-economy/heritage-and-the-economy-2016.pdf/
Photo by By Pymouss - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=44937241
How it will be delivered
Directly to Exeter City Council
