PRESS RELEASE 

September 2006

Scotlands Best Edwardian Cinema Now Finally Protected

The Cinema Theatre Association is delighted to announce that after a ten month struggle to save the Cameo cinema in Edinburgh from the threat of redevelopment Historic Scotland has now listed the cinema at Category B. This is a landmark decision in terms of architectural preservation, because this listing upgrade was triggered by the importance of the venues fine Edwardian interior. The cinema itself is located within a tenement block with the auditorium filling part of the buildings back court – it has no real façade of its own.

Many fine interiors have been lost because individual building parts cannot be listed separately, and an impressive interior alone is rarely enough to justify listing a building. The upgrading of the Cameo on this basis is therefore an important precedent, and highlights Historic Scotland's progressive stance on this topic. It also sends a strong message to English Heritage, who is currently discussing changing their policy in this area.

When the tenement block was listed six years ago at the lowest level of protection (Category C(s)), no mention was made of the cinema it contained, meaning that the Cameo was effectively unprotected. This major oversight was only brought to a head when the popular arthouse cinema came under serious threat last year. Just before Christmas plans were made to turn the stunning Edwardian auditorium into a bar and restaurant. When these plans were withdrawn, the cinema was put up for sale exposing the interior to even greater risk of damaging alterations. A Save the Cameo campaign was set up, coordinated by Genni Poole whose father, Jim Poole, had owned and run the cinema from 1949-82. The campaign gained massive public support for its argument that the best use for the Cameo was to keep it running as a cinema.

It was at this point that the Cinema Theatre Association stepped in and requested that Historic Scotland finally acknowledge the great importance of the cinema and raise the level of protection to Category B at the very least. The CTA was delighted when Historic Scotland agreed that the Cameo was significant enough in itself to raise the listing level of the entire tenement to Grade B, purely because it contained the Cameo.

"The Cameo is a rarity both in terms of Scottish architecture, and nationwide. It is one of only two cinemas in Scotland from this period still operating, and the only one with its original interior decoration intact. The cinema was built into the courtyard of the surrounding tenement block with its entrance through the shop façade from the street. This back-court type cinema used to be a typical feature of Scottish towns between the wars but now has all but disappeared. The Cameo is a unique survivor, not just as part of Edinburghs architectural history, but for its social and cultural history as well", says Gordon Barr of CTA Scotland, who has been campaigning hard to save the cinema. "It would have been a terrible loss if this excellent cinema interior had been callously destroyed."

The auditorium has survived virtually unchanged since it was built more than ninety years ago in 1914. This architectural gem with its Italian Renaissance interior could originally accommodate an audience of 673. There is a lush abundance of ornate cornice work and plaster foliage. Draped figurines spring from the elegantly fluted columns and appear to hold on their shoulders a ceiling structure that is embellished in beautiful classical decoration. The side aisles run under a graceful colonnade of arches.

The Cinema Theatre Association hopes that this new level of statutory protection will draw greater attention to the importance of the Cameo and ensure that its excellent and rare interior will continue to be enjoyed for years to come for the purpose it was designed for – watching good films in the best possible atmosphere.

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