London

:00:12. > :00:17.Look around you and you will see that London is in the middle of a

:00:18. > :00:26.construction boom. New developments springing up seemingly everywhere.

:00:27. > :00:30.But in amongst all of this shiny new glass, steel and concrete, are

:00:31. > :00:37.hundreds of historic buildings that are being allowed to crumble away.

:00:38. > :00:41.And it is happening right here under our noses, with some forgotten

:00:42. > :00:48.architectural gems fighting for their very survival. Join me as I

:00:49. > :00:53.discover the mess we have allowed some of our historic treasures to

:00:54. > :01:02.get into. How has it got into this stage? `` state. Meet the unsung

:01:03. > :01:05.heroes battling to stop priceless bits of our heritage ending up on

:01:06. > :01:12.the scrapheap. It feels cold and damp. I am afraid this is the result

:01:13. > :01:19.of the last couple of years heavy rainfall. Marvel at what can be

:01:20. > :01:26.achieved when there is money to spend. Ten years ago, Strawberry

:01:27. > :01:31.Hill was a sad place. I think it is a miracle. And watch history being

:01:32. > :01:37.revealed in front of our eyes. You have discovered this this morning?

:01:38. > :01:56.Yes, while we have been here. Amazing!

:01:57. > :02:02.For the past 30 years, this iconic building beside the River Thames has

:02:03. > :02:09.been allowed to fall into rack and ruin, and embarrassing blot on the

:02:10. > :02:14.architectural landscape of London. Battersea Power Station is one of

:02:15. > :02:17.about 600 buildings, churches and conservation areas in the capital

:02:18. > :02:20.that feature in the most recent edition of the English Heritage at

:02:21. > :02:25.risk register. It is a sobering list. Page after page of

:02:26. > :02:29.architectural features in danger of being lost forever through neglect,

:02:30. > :02:42.decay or unsympathetic development. From the outside, Battersea Power

:02:43. > :02:52.Station looks much as it always has done. Dominating the skyline on the

:02:53. > :02:56.south bank of Chelsea Bridge. It is only when you get inside that you

:02:57. > :03:01.appreciate the scale of the industrial vandalism that has taken

:03:02. > :03:13.place. The destruction looks almost apocalyptic. In the beginning of the

:03:14. > :03:19.1920s, London was powered by smaller electricity substations. This really

:03:20. > :03:24.was the first cathedral of power. Tim Jones is from English Heritage,

:03:25. > :03:30.an expert in the preservation of London's historic buildings. Work

:03:31. > :03:35.started in 1929. Although from the outside it looks as if it was built

:03:36. > :03:40.in one goal quickly, it was built over a long period of time. The

:03:41. > :03:45.building was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, who also gave us

:03:46. > :03:52.Waterloo Bridge and the red telephone box. How has it got into

:03:53. > :03:57.this stage? Was decommissioned in 1983, and there have been numerous,

:03:58. > :04:01.sadly aborted schemes since then. That has resulted in the machinery

:04:02. > :04:06.being stripped out. Part of the roof going. It is a robust building. But

:04:07. > :04:13.no salvation for Europe's largest brick built structure is at hand.

:04:14. > :04:23.Work has begun on restoring this temple of power to some of its

:04:24. > :04:27.former glory. These contractors working beneath one of the huge

:04:28. > :04:31.chimney stacks are in the vanguard are one of the biggest restoration

:04:32. > :04:38.projects ever undertaken in Britain. Is there enough left to be worth

:04:39. > :04:44.preserving? Certainly. If you see it from the outside, it is largely

:04:45. > :04:52.intact. What will be healthier, shops, apartments etc? It would be a

:04:53. > :04:57.new town. We would have a new tube station serving it. Retail and

:04:58. > :05:01.leisure facilities, apartments, penthouses, officers. It is one of

:05:02. > :05:07.the most important landmarks in the country and it will be the centre of

:05:08. > :05:12.a substantial new development. After 30 years work has now begun. What is

:05:13. > :05:18.your feeling about that? Absolutely delighted. It is amazing to see the

:05:19. > :05:27.building work going on around us. Work has finally started 30 years

:05:28. > :05:31.after it was decommissioned. I will be meeting the architect with the

:05:32. > :05:39.job of recording everything that has survived, later. This gives us the

:05:40. > :05:42.character of the original building. Rather than sweeping of all away and

:05:43. > :05:48.are becoming another bland office development. If everything goes to

:05:49. > :05:54.plan, Battersea Power Station will eventually find itself taken of the

:05:55. > :05:57.English Heritage at risk register. But new cases of architectural

:05:58. > :06:00.neglect are coming to light all the time, ready to take the place of

:06:01. > :06:10.those buildings of the enough to be safe.

:06:11. > :06:14.I am off to Twickenham. This modest but elegant little house close by

:06:15. > :06:20.the River Thames, is called Sandycombe Lodge. When its

:06:21. > :06:28.celebrated owner built at 200 years ago, this was the middle of the

:06:29. > :06:34.countryside. `` revealed it. Back in the early part of the 19th century,

:06:35. > :06:48.the house was the cosy rural retreat William Turner, the artist.

:06:49. > :06:58.The house from wary too much of his inspiration. Where does the name,

:06:59. > :07:03.Sandycombe Lodge, from? This is a slope. It was very sandy. The

:07:04. > :07:10.building is in the hands of a charitable trust. This is the house

:07:11. > :07:15.that Turner Field? This is the house that Turner built. He designed it

:07:16. > :07:20.himself. We can see it in his sketchbooks. These are joined by

:07:21. > :07:25.him. He said if he could have his life again in his own architect.

:07:26. > :07:30.England could have lost one of its greatest architects. You could have

:07:31. > :07:35.been the successor to Sir Christopher Wren. He deeply enjoyed

:07:36. > :07:42.drawing buildings, buildings and landscapes. And here, the

:07:43. > :07:46.opportunity to be his own architect. Why did he choose to come to the

:07:47. > :07:50.country? I think he wanted to get away from the pressures of London,

:07:51. > :07:57.the Royal Academy, clients pestering him, and his mistress. He wanted to

:07:58. > :08:13.get away from them? Yes, it seems that. He loves `` macro you love

:08:14. > :08:17.this area. `` he loved this area. He wanted to get away from the misfits,

:08:18. > :08:26.the children, to be solo, on his own, in this. Solus Lodge. Then in

:08:27. > :08:31.the cellar it becomes all too clear why it has been placed on the 'at

:08:32. > :08:35.risk' register. This is the basement where the kitchen was. It is cold

:08:36. > :08:45.and damp. There is a musty smell in the air. This was the result of the

:08:46. > :08:51.last few years, and the heavy rainfall we have had. The ceiling

:08:52. > :08:56.collapsed. Rain started to seep in. The plaster could not hold any more

:08:57. > :09:03.water. Upstairs you quickly appreciate that there is still

:09:04. > :09:09.plenty of Turner's rural idyll worth preserving. This is very elegant,

:09:10. > :09:18.isn't it? It is. Where did he get his ideas? A lot of it comes from

:09:19. > :09:28.his great friend, Sir John Sole, the architect. He was building a town

:09:29. > :09:30.house in Lincolns Inn Fields at the same time this house was being

:09:31. > :09:37.built. There are so many similarities. I think there is

:09:38. > :09:42.enough left here. What an idyllic spot it must've been. Tim Jones is

:09:43. > :09:48.responsible for compiling the 'at risk' register for London. How come

:09:49. > :09:56.where we are standing now, Bert Turner stood, when did you decide

:09:57. > :10:04.this was at risk? To we thought, after the last dollars passed away,

:10:05. > :10:10.this was an opportunity. It draws attention to the plight and the

:10:11. > :10:13.parable of the building, and it raises public interest and public

:10:14. > :10:18.awareness. There is a great yearning to keep buildings like this going.

:10:19. > :10:26.They should go on forever, with care and attention. What did he do here?

:10:27. > :10:33.He certainly entertained close friends. Usually fellow artists, but

:10:34. > :10:39.sometimes people he felt at ease with. Did he work here? We cannot

:10:40. > :10:46.prove that but it would be very odd if he did not. He always carried

:10:47. > :10:50.sketchbooks with him. Any decorative traces of Turner have long been

:10:51. > :10:57.covered over with wallpaper and paint over two centuries. I am

:10:58. > :11:03.trying to take a paint sample, record the location, photograph it

:11:04. > :11:08.and I will be able to examine it. Helen Hughes is a restoration

:11:09. > :11:12.detective. She is hunting for clues about the decorative scheme Turner

:11:13. > :11:21.may have chosen. This is the dining room. There is work going on. What

:11:22. > :11:25.am I supposed to be looking at? We are trying to establish the original

:11:26. > :11:29.declaration that Turner applied when he moved into the house. This is an

:11:30. > :11:36.exciting discovery. We have been working here this morning. We have

:11:37. > :11:40.removed some damp wallpaper and noticed this patter on. What I have

:11:41. > :11:45.done this morning is identified that plaster there. I have removed that.

:11:46. > :11:54.And you see, we have exposed some wood in beading. `` wouldn't

:11:55. > :11:59.beading. This could have been an area that was perhaps hung with a

:12:00. > :12:05.mirror. The ultimate object is to rediscover the colours that he used.

:12:06. > :12:09.What have you found so far? Behind all of this wallpaper, you can see

:12:10. > :12:15.traces of paint. It is a dark am a pink paint. There may be the remains

:12:16. > :12:21.of a marble scheme. Painted marbling. This is what it could have

:12:22. > :12:25.been like in Turner's day? It would have looked better. We discovered

:12:26. > :12:31.this this morning while we have been here. Amazing. We have uncovered

:12:32. > :12:36.some of the secrets here and now. And could Turner himself have done

:12:37. > :12:45.this? I think he would have got the decorators in. He was a man! The

:12:46. > :12:48.trustees have been given a small development grant to kick`start

:12:49. > :12:54.their campaign to raise the ?2 million needed for the restoration.

:12:55. > :12:58.If this were a painting by Turner, you would have millions at your

:12:59. > :13:02.disposal because everybody would want a share in a painting by Turner

:13:03. > :13:11.but it is a work of art because it is designed by him. It is a work of

:13:12. > :13:19.art but in 3`dimensional. What are your plans for this? To return it as

:13:20. > :13:25.closely as we can find out as to how it was in Turner's time. But then

:13:26. > :13:30.also to make it a place people will want to visit. They will want to

:13:31. > :13:32.come and take part in artist workshops, for instance. But we do

:13:33. > :13:47.still need quite a lot of money. Money is one thing that Battersea

:13:48. > :13:51.Power Station has been granted a considerable amount of by its

:13:52. > :13:57.managing developers. The project is expected to cost a call three

:13:58. > :14:03.quarters of ?1 billion. This room looks to be in full working order.

:14:04. > :14:13.This is control some `` control room B. This was the knee of censure.

:14:14. > :14:22.Have I turned out all the lights in London? You have just switched off

:14:23. > :14:25.Wimbledon. We cannot restore this back to its fully working order but

:14:26. > :14:31.we can certainly refurbish the machinery we can see. David has

:14:32. > :14:36.spent the last few months conducting a detailed survey of everything that

:14:37. > :14:40.has survived here. Battersea Power Station, it is probably more

:14:41. > :14:47.important of gaining a thorough understanding of what is left. What

:14:48. > :14:52.was that? It is one of the original light switches we have judged as

:14:53. > :14:57.being in very poor condition. So you are an architectural archaeologist?

:14:58. > :15:03.There is certainly an element of detective work. What do you call

:15:04. > :15:08.this book? It is a gazetteer. It is an inventory of all the remaining

:15:09. > :15:15.features in the power station. Like the lavatory? That is quite a

:15:16. > :15:20.special 1950s lavatory. So it is down to that kind of detail?

:15:21. > :15:24.Exactly. It gives us the character of the original building. Rather

:15:25. > :15:29.than sweeping it all away and it becoming a bland office development.

:15:30. > :15:34.Can you give us an idea of the scale? This is a scale drawing of

:15:35. > :15:41.Saint Pauls Cathedral fitting inside Battersea Power Station. It fits in

:15:42. > :15:46.with room to spare. You can get the whole of Saint Pauls Cathedral with

:15:47. > :15:53.room to spare? It really is a fantastic undertaking. In a moment,

:15:54. > :15:56.the man in charge of the Battersea Power Station development reveals

:15:57. > :16:02.his plans for the restoration. The North West Jimmy `` North West Jimmy

:16:03. > :16:07.will become a viewing platform where people can see the rest of London.

:16:08. > :16:12.But first, I want to take you back in time because it is ten years

:16:13. > :16:17.since the BBC first highlighted the plight of much of our heritage in

:16:18. > :16:21.the Restoration series. You will remember, the programmes where we

:16:22. > :16:27.were asked to vote on the buildings we most wanted to save from ruin. To

:16:28. > :16:32.needy Restoration cases particularly stood out for me and I want to know

:16:33. > :16:35.what has happened to them. One is Strawberry Hill, the new Gothic

:16:36. > :16:43.fantasy house built in south`west London. The other, Broomfield

:16:44. > :16:46.house, a hauntingly ruined mansion held together by scaffolding and

:16:47. > :16:53.standing in the middle of a park in palmers Green. The architect and a

:16:54. > :16:58.building surveyor cast their expert eyes over both these buildings for

:16:59. > :17:04.the original series. Such a dire state. It must be one of the most

:17:05. > :17:10.evocative ruins I have ever been into. Ten years on, they are going

:17:11. > :17:16.back to discover whether time has ravaged or restore them. It is nice

:17:17. > :17:20.to be brought out of retirement. They start with Strawberry Hill and

:17:21. > :17:25.a quick reminder of the state the building was in ten years ago. I was

:17:26. > :17:28.so excited to come because I had always heard of the building. You

:17:29. > :17:33.read about this in all the architectural textbooks. It is a

:17:34. > :17:41.seminal moment. I remember all that cement render. This grinding, deep

:17:42. > :17:44.penetrating sets of damp and gloom. You have got all this problem of

:17:45. > :17:50.dampness in this corner and it is destroying this plaster. Look at all

:17:51. > :17:55.of this. You can see the whole thing is really loose and this is probably

:17:56. > :18:00.holding up the building. If any house ever deserved to have the

:18:01. > :18:09.millions spent on it and be saved, this is it. Let's go and have a

:18:10. > :18:13.look. The architect began work on his dream home in the 1740s, adding

:18:14. > :18:21.medieval style battlements as the mood took him. He created his own

:18:22. > :18:27.architectural movement `` movement, Strawberry Hill Gothic. The first

:18:28. > :18:30.thing that strikes me is the relief that the cement render has gone

:18:31. > :18:36.because that was so distressing before. So great. You felt as though

:18:37. > :18:42.the whole thing was being suffocated. Now look at it. It is

:18:43. > :18:50.not just white, it is lime wash like. It is like a toy fort. Up

:18:51. > :18:55.until now Gothic had been left in the Middle Ages and suddenly, here

:18:56. > :19:00.he is, saying, we can do something in Gothic. If it looks this good on

:19:01. > :19:06.the outside, I can't wait to see what it looks like on the inside.

:19:07. > :19:13.The past ten years has indeed been kind to Strawberry Hill. A ?5

:19:14. > :19:20.million grant from the Heritage lottery fund has seen its fortunes

:19:21. > :19:25.and fabric transform. Ten years ago it was a very sad and unloved place

:19:26. > :19:30.not lived by anybody and abandoned and in need of some restoration and

:19:31. > :19:35.tender loving care. This is extremely interesting. A bit of

:19:36. > :19:39.luck, I think we could find this is the original decorative scheme. The

:19:40. > :19:44.restoration has meant that because of everything we have found, digging

:19:45. > :19:48.in walls and finding much more original material than we ever

:19:49. > :19:51.believed was here, that we have been able to bring it back to sparkling

:19:52. > :20:01.sense of what it was like in the 18th century. Wow! What a room! You

:20:02. > :20:08.can't help but look at this ceiling. It is amazing. But what is more

:20:09. > :20:13.amazing it has survived over 250 years. It is amazing it survived

:20:14. > :20:21.over the last ten years. It all looked rather hopeless. But look,

:20:22. > :20:26.the joy is relived. You expect this ceiling to be made out of stone but

:20:27. > :20:32.it was made out of Pappy mache and they could actually formate and cast

:20:33. > :20:36.it and carve it, essentially. It is nice to come back here and not have

:20:37. > :20:43.to say to you, I hope it is going to need restoration. It has been done.

:20:44. > :20:48.Horace Walpole never believed it would survive. He had this, said

:20:49. > :20:53.that it would be a paper heist that would blow away. For a building of

:20:54. > :21:01.this bridge Liddy, it has not, and I think he would be amazed at how it

:21:02. > :21:09.looks now. It is absolutely beautiful. A wonderful roof light.

:21:10. > :21:17.It has been beautifully done with real craftsmanship, proper funds,

:21:18. > :21:21.nothing has been left to chance. It has been done fantastically well and

:21:22. > :21:26.you can see the quality of the work. I feel really happy that this

:21:27. > :21:30.building has survived. This tangible memory of that wonderful, joyful

:21:31. > :21:33.period at the end of the 18th`century when they could do

:21:34. > :21:39.anything, they were rewriting the rules of architecture. I look at

:21:40. > :21:41.this building and I think, thank goodness it is here. Let's carry on

:21:42. > :21:52.having fun. So what of the fate of the fire

:21:53. > :22:00.ravaged Broomfield's `` Broomfield Has? Do you remember when there was

:22:01. > :22:05.hardly anything less? It was just charred timbers everywhere. There is

:22:06. > :22:09.the staircase. The wonderful about this house is that although it looks

:22:10. > :22:19.so terrible, there is actually quite a lot yet that is salvageable. Let's

:22:20. > :22:23.see what sort of state it is in now. Broomfield house has been standing

:22:24. > :22:27.in the centre of Broomfield Park since the 16th century. It started

:22:28. > :22:31.life as a modest farmhouse and has been much altered and embellished

:22:32. > :22:37.over the years. The mansion was bought by the local council in the

:22:38. > :22:43.1900 and in time was a health centre, in museum and a cafe. That

:22:44. > :22:50.was until a series of fires in the 80s and 90s group `` gradually

:22:51. > :22:56.reduced it to ruin. Absolutely nothing has happened. Ten minutes

:22:57. > :23:03.ago I was vaguely optimistic and now I am just appalled.

:23:04. > :23:11.When we came last, we went inside. We wandered all around the ground

:23:12. > :23:16.floor. You had this wonderfully gracious staircase that would have

:23:17. > :23:21.gone here. The way it now disintegrates into nothing, you have

:23:22. > :23:24.to imagine that it went gliding up at a right angle turn. This was a

:23:25. > :23:37.Rolls`Royce of staircases. Now we can't even go beyond the

:23:38. > :23:41.hoarding it is so dangerous. It is the centre of the park, it explains

:23:42. > :23:45.why the park is here, it is the main important country house in this part

:23:46. > :23:51.of Middlesex. If it is taken away, you are left with no understanding

:23:52. > :23:55.of why it is here. Aborted plans to create low`cost housing and a failed

:23:56. > :23:58.lottery bid have condemned Broomfield house to its current

:23:59. > :24:06.state. The local council is adamant it does not have the money to pay

:24:07. > :24:09.for the restoration itself. I have got requirements coming out of my

:24:10. > :24:12.years, I have got housing requirements coming out of my ears,

:24:13. > :24:18.the capital fund is stretched beyond its limits at the moment and the

:24:19. > :24:21.next few years, councils have got even bigger percentage cuts than

:24:22. > :24:26.they have had in the last four years so we are not looking at an always

:24:27. > :24:31.wonderful horizon which is bright and bubbly. A local community group

:24:32. > :24:37.is pinning its hopes on a revived bid for money from the lottery but

:24:38. > :24:41.nothing can be guaranteed. We have always believed that house should be

:24:42. > :24:45.restored and it should be as a community resource. Maybe we will

:24:46. > :24:50.just have to do the shell of the house up. We will then do other work

:24:51. > :24:54.step`by`step. But there is a credible at a gap at the moment in

:24:55. > :24:58.the sense that the Lehr `` lottery Heritage fund knocks us back. Nobody

:24:59. > :25:03.is going to help with a project that has not got wheels on it. My fear is

:25:04. > :25:07.that we would not then be able to attract money from other sources and

:25:08. > :25:11.so the option at the moment is, we would have to pack it shop because

:25:12. > :25:18.it would not be a sustainable structure. There are hundreds of

:25:19. > :25:23.examples of how historic buildings in historic parks can be revived and

:25:24. > :25:27.turned into all sorts of things. Between them the local authority,

:25:28. > :25:28.the heritage bodies, the community, why can't they come together and

:25:29. > :25:44.sort this out? As Broomfield House gradually

:25:45. > :25:50.deteriorates, developers at that has the power station are showing off

:25:51. > :25:54.their plans. What is your ambition? We want to make Battersea Power

:25:55. > :25:56.Station one of London's most exciting and unique developments,

:25:57. > :26:05.building on the heritage of this fantastic building. Can you restore

:26:06. > :26:10.it to its former glory? All the heritage that is there, we will

:26:11. > :26:14.restored and do as much as we can and make it available to the general

:26:15. > :26:20.public. Will you still have the chimneys? They will be replaced with

:26:21. > :26:24.exact replicas will stop they will be exactly the same materials, the

:26:25. > :26:27.same specification, but we have got to replace them because they have

:26:28. > :26:34.structurally failed and big chunks are falling off. So it is not

:26:35. > :26:39.restoration, it is replication. It is, but you can't do anything else

:26:40. > :26:43.at this stage. You are a developer, you need to make your money, how can

:26:44. > :26:47.we be sure you will not cut corners? I have always said that Battersea

:26:48. > :26:52.Power Station is the absolute key to this project. It is the key to the

:26:53. > :26:54.entire site. We are out at the moment sourcing the original

:26:55. > :26:58.Manufacturer 's of light fittings, brickworks, with the bricks came

:26:59. > :27:05.from, we are doing as much quality control of the heritage as we

:27:06. > :27:08.possibly can. How can you add English Heritage make sure the

:27:09. > :27:15.developers actually stick to their word? The proposals as submitted and

:27:16. > :27:19.approved our fantastically detailed and that covers the works, the

:27:20. > :27:24.chimneys, the brickwork, the type of bricks that will be used, so we will

:27:25. > :27:28.be working very close with all those involved in the power station to

:27:29. > :27:32.make sure that it is not just back brought back to life but brought

:27:33. > :27:35.back to life perfectly. Is it going to happen in my lifetime? Are we

:27:36. > :27:40.going to see this brought back to its former glory? We will be opening

:27:41. > :27:49.Battersea Power Station to the public at the end of 2018, perhaps

:27:50. > :27:54.2019. Where is my flat going to be? I think it should be on the roof.

:27:55. > :28:00.Overlooking the Thames? I think it would be perfect. It has got my name

:28:01. > :28:04.written all over it. So what have we got in store for the next couple of

:28:05. > :28:08.years for London's battle architecturally? Turner's house in

:28:09. > :28:16.Twickenham, will it give up more of its secrets? Can Broomfield House

:28:17. > :28:20.find the saviour it so badly needs and rise Phoenix like from the

:28:21. > :28:24.ashes? Will Battersea Power Station keep its architectural integrity

:28:25. > :28:28.intact during its multi`million pound Malaysia make over? And what

:28:29. > :28:35.further blighted buildings will come to light and joined the next edition

:28:36. > :28:41.of the Restoring England's Heritage 'at risk' register? You can find out

:28:42. > :28:50.more about all these buildings by going to the BBC website. And if you

:28:51. > :29:08.missed any of it, you can catch up on BBC iPlayer.

:29:09. > :29:12.Hello, I'm Ellie Crisell with your 90 second update.

:29:13. > :29:15.Large parts of the UK are being battered by a powerful storm. Two

:29:16. > :29:17.people have died, thousands are without power. Dozens of severe

:29:18. > :29:21.flood warnings are in force with homes being evacuated. Your forecast

:29:22. > :29:24.in a moment and get the latest on your local BBC radio station.

:29:25. > :29:27.Millions of us are going to have to work longer. The Chancellor is

:29:28. > :29:30.increasing the state pension age for many people. Also in his new plans,

:29:31. > :29:34.a fuel duty freeze and a smaller rise in rail fares.

:29:35. > :29:37.Get ready to say goodbye to the tax disc. After 93 years it's being

:29:38. > :29:38.scrapped. Computerised checks mean it's not