The Royal Clarence Hotel in Exeter, Devon, England was gutted by fire Friday, October 28, 2016. The fire is believed to have started in an adjoining building on Cathedral Green, above The Castle Fine Art Gallery. It then spread to a tavern, cafe and then the Royal Clarence Hotel.
As of Saturday morning, the BBC is reporting the front facade of the hotel has crumbled away and firefighters have sent up drones to inspect the damage and check for any fire “hot spots.” Structural engineers say they expect to see further crumbling of the ancient building.
The fire did spread to a Laura Ashley store on High Street, but it was swiftly contained. Needless to say, a concert and services at Exeter Cathedral have been canceled this weekend as an overwhelming sense of sadness hangs over the city like a funeral pall.
The cause of the fire is still unknown, according to Chief fire officer Lee Howell, who added: “We’re grateful no one has been hurt in this incident but the community has lost a historic building which is a landmark of the city.”
Adding that the fire department would remain on scene through Sunday, Chief Howell said, “We kept significant resources at the scene to ensure we were able to deal with every eventuality and we will continue to do everything we can to protect the heritage of this city.”
The fire was so intense that the 150 firefighters battling the inferno used up all the water in the water main and had to resort to using water from the River Exe hundreds of meters away to help extinguish the blaze, reports the Independent.
The Royal Clarence Hotel
The Royal Clarence Hotel was built in 1769 as Assembly Rooms by William Mackworth Praed, a son of William Mackworth Praed, who died in 1752. As a historical aside, in the 18th and 19th centuries in England, assembly rooms were gathering places for members, both men, and women, of the upper social class.
The Royal Clarence hotel became the first establishment in England to use “hotel.” In September 1770, an advertisement for the property was placed by its French manager, Pierre Berton, describing it as an “hôtel.”
By 1776, it was known as The Hotel. On down through the years, the Royal Clarence has also been known as the Cadogan Hotel, Thompsons Hotel, and Phillips Hotel. Finally, in July 1827, after a visit by Adelaide, the Duchess of Clarence, the hotel was given the name Royal Clarence Hotel. This was the year when it was also remodeled.
