{"id":47558,"date":"2026-08-04T11:41:46","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T10:41:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/?p=47558"},"modified":"2026-08-04T11:41:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T10:41:46","slug":"ihbc-features-heritage-from-the-doorstep-historic-victorian-treasures-feared-lost-in-major-fire-at-former-edinburgh-debenhams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/?p=47558","title":{"rendered":"IHBC features \u2018Heritage from the doorstep\u2019: Historic Victorian &#8216;treasures&#8217; feared lost in major fire at former Edinburgh Debenhams"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:River_Island_on_Princess_St.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"427\" src=\"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/River_Island_on_Princess_St-Custom.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-47560\" srcset=\"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/River_Island_on_Princess_St-Custom.jpg 500w, https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/River_Island_on_Princess_St-Custom-300x256.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-gray-color has-text-color has-link-color has-small-font-size wp-elements-1 wp-block-paragraph\"><em>image for illustration: <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:River_Island_on_Princess_St.jpg\">EugenStoica, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Historic architectural features inside the fire-hit former Debenhams building in Edinburgh city centre, including an ornate Victorian library, are feared to have been destroyed, reports <em>The Edinburgh Evening News<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><u>The Edinburgh Evening News<\/u><\/em> writes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Structural engineers assessing the burnt-out property have warned that at least the top two floors will likely have to be demolished\u2026 also \u2026 sparked calls for a full restoration of the historic building, with conservation body Edinburgh World Heritage stating it is \u2018imperative\u2019 that as much of the original structure as possible is retained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Scottish Liberal Club, which once owned the property, has urged Historic Environment Scotland, the Cockburn Society and the City of Edinburgh Council to \u2018work together towards restoring these historic buildings\u2019\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">First opening its doors as the Palace Hotel in 1869, the building spent much of its pre-Debenhams days as the Scottish Liberal Club\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2026 the building retained much of its Victorian grandeur, including an ornate entrance hall, elaborate ceiling plasterwork, and the historic library\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com\/news\/fears-for-architectural-treasures-destroyed-in-princes-street-fire-including-beautifully-preserved-memorial-library-8788369\">Read more here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>image for illustration: EugenStoica, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Historic architectural features inside the fire-hit former Debenhams building in Edinburgh city centre, including an ornate Victorian library, are feared to have been destroyed, reports The Edinburgh Evening News.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[666,820,87,801,83],"class_list":["post-47558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ihbc-newsblog","tag-architectural-history","tag-edinburgh","tag-fire","tag-libraries","tag-scotland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47558","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=47558"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47558\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47561,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47558\/revisions\/47561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=47558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=47558"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=47558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}