Old and New Towns of Edinburgh

WHC:

A blaze affected a part of the Old Town area of Edinburgh (Cowgate) on 7 December 2002. On 19 December 2002, a letter was received from the Minister for the Arts of the State Party indicating that the fire affected only 13 out of the World Heritage site's nearly 4,500 historic buildings. It was considered that the overall quality of the World Heritage site has remained intact. Historic Scotland, that has been working closely with the local authority to give assistance in developing a remedial action plan for the area affected, transmitted a more detailed report on 20 January 2003. This report underlined that the impact of the fire was limited to less than 1% of the whole area of the World Heritage site, and that the most important historic buildings in the area escaped damage. Only 2 listed buildings (buildings identified by the State as meriting particular individual protection) out of some 3,500 listed buildings in the World Heritage site were directly affected.

However, the report stated that the fire did destroy an important part of the Edinburgh townscape at the junction of the two streets, an area that had been the subject of significant 18th and 19th century urban design projects. The report underlined also that the re-development of the site very quickly became a subject of public debate. To date, the reconstruction of some of the demolished buildings or reinstatement of the frontage to an earlier appearance are among the options that may be considered in the development plan. Yet, redevelopment will not commence until a proper assessment of the remaining structures and the archaeological and architectural significance of the site has been carried out and a development plan agreed with the City Council.

The State Party also informed that the City Council is committed to ensuring that any redevelopment of the area will take full account of the character and the surviving medieval street pattern of this part of the World Heritage site. The Edinburgh City Council assumed control under its powers in relation to unsafe structures and public safety. Its aim was to keep demolition to a minimum, however, in view of the considerable structural damage caused by the fire, unlisted buildings were demolished.

ICOMOS:

ICOMOS stated that the challenge was now to address the consequences of the fire in the light of the designation of the area as part of the World Heritage site. ICOMOS also agreed that stating that a significant part of the Old Town was destroyed did not correspond to the truth, since only 13 buildings were involved and the loss of structures of particular architectural interest remain modest. However, the fire has resulted in the destruction of a highly important sector of the city and that buildings which contributed to the strong character of the streetscape and fabric of the Old Town, for which Edinburgh was inscribed as a World Heritage site, have been lost. ICOMOS also informed the Centre that a full archaeological survey would take place as soon as the site is safe. ICOMOS expressed the hope that, in due course, a conservation plan or equivalent will be put together to guide the redevelopment of the site through informing debate on options to be considered, and that the approach will take account of ICOMOS International Charters, such as the Charter of Krakow of 2000 on Historic Towns.