Restoration Village

28 July, 2006 by The_Boss

BBC TWO Friday 28th July 2006 9:00pm - 10:00pm

Restoration is back and, this time, the spotlight falls on the nation's villages.

Presented by Griff Rhys Jones, and with the help of ruin detectives Ptolemy Dean and Marianne Suhr, Restoration Village will once again be travelling the length and breadth of the country in a quest to uncover some of the nation's most threatened architectural treasures.

This series will feature 21 rural buildings from seven different regions around the UK, which have once played a central role in their village. Their restoration will inject new life into both the buildings themselves and the communities in which they stand.

Restoration Village will call upon viewers to make their mark on history by voting for the historic building they most want to save.

Says Griff: "I am sure we all have a private view of England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland and I bet it probably involves a village and a deserted road with a cottage in the foreground and green fields swelling in the rear.

"I'm sure we've all seen just such a village and, somehow, feel that such places correspond with our feelings of security and warmth and our sense of place, hearth and home. And so it should.

"But the truth is that the countryside everywhere is facing change and disruption over the next hundred years. It is going to be a challenge to all of us to manage that change. Restoration is going out to the countryside to look at buildings and the landscape and offer up another 21 fascinating causes looking for help. It is these neglected, ordinary, familiar landmarks of the country that we need to save: barns, chapels, farmhouses, inns, workshops.

"Restoration Village will be a fantastic opportunity to see what we value and why on the rural scene and I'm raring to be off doing it."

The first episode of Restoration Village invites viewers to save one of the nation's threatened architectural treasures in the South East of England. Masseys Folly, Upper Farringdon in Hampshire; Watts Gallery, Compton in Surrey; and Tollesbury Granary, Tollesbury in Essex are all vying for your vote.

Renovating mysterious Masseys
Folly in Upper Farringdon,
Hampshire should revitalise
the villageMasseys Folly is an immense structure towering over the surrounding picturesque thatched cottages in the village of Upper Farringdon. Built over 40 years from 1870 by the Rev Thomas Hackett Massey, the building's history remains shrouded in mystery. Part of the building is currently used as a nursery school and villagers would like to see this continue as well as using the Folly to revitalise the village, its identity and sense of community.

The work of Victorian artist GF
Watts is housed in Compton’s
Watts Gallery created especially
for the purpose by his wife Watts Gallery stands as a testament to the loving and productive marriage of two artists. The wife of eminent Victorian artist GF Watts created the only purpose-built, one-man gallery in Britain as a home for her husband's work. It opened in 1903 and become one of the focal point of arts and crafts practitioners. The Gallery will continue to be the home for Watts's work and refurbishment will ensure it remains a superb art gallery.

Tollesbury Granary in
Tollesbury, Essex, embodies
the social and economic history
of its villageAlthough Tollesbury Granary, Essex, appears to be in a very poor condition, this Grade II listed building embodies the social and economic history of its village. Village life revolved around The Sail and the Plough and this building was at the hub of local maritime society. Built as a granary and trading store in the mid-19th century, it has been used as a sail loft and boat shed, for boat-building and net repairs and, undoubtedly, as a meeting place for locals. At the edge of a boatyard, it has marvellous views over the Blackwater Estuary and Essex salt marshes. With help from the Mid Essex Historic Buildings Trust, the 3,000-strong local community wants to raise it out of the spring tides and rebuild it as a visitor centre, community space and field study centre.

The building that receives the most votes will go forward to a live final in September when one building will receive the money being raised.

Further information on the series will be available on http://www.bbc.co.uk/restoration.

In addition to examining the Viewer Vote Buildings, Restoration Village will be exploring issues that, while pertinent to their particular region, also have a national resonance.
On the East coast of Britain, many listed buildings and properties are being lost for ever to the sea through coastal erosion.

This first episode ventures to the East Anglian coast, through Suffolk and Norfolk, where residents along the coast are living on the brink of uncertainty. Not only are their homes threatened by coastal erosion, but also – in a cruel twist to this all too literal cliffhanger – after months of consultation they are still unsure whether any steps at all will be taken to protect their towns and villages.
It will also highlight how the fortunes of some of the buildings featured in the previous series of Restoration have been transformed.