How can I find out more about the properties?
Full listings for the 2006 properties can be found here.
Which properties won?
The 2006 winner was Chedham's Yard.
The 2004 winner was The Old Grammar School and Saracens Head.
The 2003 winner was Victoria Baths.
N.b. there was no series in 2005.
How were the properties chosen?
Each of the buildings taking part in Restoration 2006 was selected in consultation with the relevant heritage bodies. Each is considered to be of great architectural and historical interest, and enjoys the support of a local campaigning group, which undertakes to offer public access after restoration. Those buildings which are currently privately owned will be transferred to a public trust if they win.
How can I suggest a property for a future series of Restoration?
You can contact the production company for Restoration Village to make suggestions using this address: buildings@endemoluk.com
Who manages the funds?
The Restoration Fund is a registered charity (number: 1098895), which takes responsibility for managing the funds raised through the series.
How is the Heritage Lottery Fund helping?
The Heritage Lottery Fund has pledged £1.9 million towards restoring the building that wins the third series of Restoration. In 2003 The Heritage Lottery Fund pledged £3 million towards securing the future of the winning building, Victoria Baths in Manchester. A further £2.5 million was pledged to
The Old Grammar School and Saracens Head, the winner of Restoration 2004.
The Heritage Lottery Fund has since awarded sums to many of the other projects featured in the first two series.
How will the winning properties be restored?
All donations will go to The Restoration Fund, which will use the money raised to fund the restoration of one or more of the buildings featured in the series.
The restoration of listed buildings is carried out according to very strict guidelines and closely monitored by the relevant body.
The winning building will be the one which receives the most public votes and fulfils the conditions set by the Trustees of The Restoration Fund.
Allocation of funds
The Restoration Fund Trustees will meet the day after the BBC Two Restoration Village Final to consider the winning building with the aim of formally ratifying the viewers' choice. The Trustees have ultimate discretion and will run a final check to ensure the building meets the criteria - that it is publicly-owned, that it is accessible to the public, and that it has a viable and sustainable end use.
If the winning building, once ratified by the Trustees, requires significantly less money to restore than is available to the Trustees, then they will allocate the surplus to one of the remaining finalists.
The Trustees' primary aim will be to see through the restoration of the winning building to a point where they are confident full restoration is in sight - that all estimates are robust and the money secured, and that all parties are satisfied that the restoration plan is sound. This could take some time depending on the challenges the building faces. However it is likely to be when the building reaches its Stage 2 pass of the HLF main grant. It is likely that the Trustees would retain a contingency to underpin the restoration of the winning building.
In the meantime, the remaining finalists may be able to use the £50,000 HLF Project Planning Grants that are available to help them develop a Stage 2 Heritage Lottery Fund grant application of their own.
Once the restoration of the winning building is assured - as described above - and should any money remain in the Fund, the Restoration Fund Trustees will consider the progress the other seven finalists have made with their Stage 2 applications in the interim. Although the Trustees will be guided by the outcome of the public vote, they will take a fresh look at the progress the buildings have made and then decide on the most effective use of any surplus funds.
Who is responsible for the main Restoration music?
The Restoration theme was composed by Nick Franglen. Nick is one half of the band Lemon Jelly.
Who are the presenters of the show?
Griff Rhys Jones
Griff Rhys Jones is best known for his TV work, most notably for 'Book Worm' and the comedy sketch shows 'Not The Nine O'Clock News', as well as 'Smith and Jones'. He is a prolific actor and writer and has recently been concentrating on radio work, with one of his shows, 'Do Go On' on Radio 4, picking up a SONY award.
He is currently involved in restoring the legendary Hackney Empire, which will re-open in September 2003 after a massive overhaul of the theatre. Griff led the Hackney Empire Appeal Campaign, which raised £15 million, and led to a major programme of redevelopment and extensive restoration of the facilities, whilst preserving the original features that made it one of the most popular venues in London.
Marianne Suhr
Marianne's interest in historic buildings started early on in life and in 1993 she attained a first class honours degree in building surveying. Her first job was as a clerk of works for the National Trust, overseeing a large repair project of an historic house in south Wales.
In 1995 Marianne spent the year on a scholarship with the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB), gaining practical experience for the repair of historic structures. She used this knowledge to tour universities, lecturing to undergraduate building surveyors.
Marianne finally took a desk job as a chartered building surveyor, surveying historic buildings and designing repair schemes. Over recent years she has worked on many churches and several English Heritage sites. Marianne has also written conservation plans for sites such as Avebury and Cardiff Castle.
In 2002, Marianne returned to hands-on work and is currently repairing a derelict farmhouse in Leicestershire. She continues to work part-time for the SPAB, running workshops around the country. She teaches builders, homeowners and architects how to repair old buildings properly, and campaigns against the use of cement on historic structures. Marianne is also involved in various campaigns to attract young people into the building trades and improve standards within the industry.
Ptolemy Dean BSC (Hons) DipArch (Edin) RIBA, AABC.
Ptolemy Dean is an architect who specialises in the repair of historic buildings and the design of new buildings in sensitive sites.
After leaving Edinburgh University, Ptolemy Dean won an ICOMOS scholarship to document mud adobe structures in New Mexico and Arizona. He then worked on a variety of Grade I listed buildings, including Stowe, Chastleton and Waddesdon Manor. In 1993 he was one of the SPAB Lethaby Scholars, studying active repair methods on some of the country's most prestigious sites. The final three-month section of this was spent researching the country houses of Sir John Soane. A fellowship to research the 'minor' country works of Sir John Soane followed, carried out concurrently with work for Whitfield Partners on the new Mappa Mundi entitled 'Soane Revisited' and the publication of a book on Soane's country practice.
He has been responsible for the £5m Millennium project at Southwark Cathedral, involving the cleaning and floodlighting of the cathedral. This project has won eight awards including those from the RIBA and Civic Trust.
At present Ptolemy enjoys a mix of projects including repairs and alterations at Malmesbury Abbey. On the secular side he is working on a number of country houses in Kent, Sussex, Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire. He is the design consultant for the First Citizens Bank in North Carolina and currently serves on the Salisbury Cathedral Fabric Advisory Committee, The London Advisory Committee of English Heritage and is a Trustee of the Borough Market in Southwark.
