London Restoring England's Heritage

Look around you and you will see that London is in the middle of a

construction boom. New developments springing up seemingly everywhere.

But in amongst all of this shiny new glass, steel and concrete, are

hundreds of historic buildings that are being allowed to crumble away.

And it is happening right here under our noses, with some forgotten

architectural gems fighting for their very survival. Join me as I

discover the mess we have allowed some of our historic treasures to

get into. How has it got into this stage? `` state. Meet the unsung

heroes battling to stop priceless bits of our heritage ending up on

the scrapheap. It feels cold and damp. I am afraid this is the result

of the last couple of years heavy rainfall. Marvel at what can be

achieved when there is money to spend. Ten years ago, Strawberry

Hill was a sad place. I think it is a miracle. And watch history being

revealed in front of our eyes. You have discovered this this morning?

Yes, while we have been here. Amazing!

For the past 30 years, this iconic building beside the River Thames has

been allowed to fall into rack and ruin, and embarrassing blot on the

architectural landscape of London. Battersea Power Station is one of

about 600 buildings, churches and conservation areas in the capital

that feature in the most recent edition of the English Heritage at

risk register. It is a sobering list. Page after page of

architectural features in danger of being lost forever through neglect,

decay or unsympathetic development. From the outside, Battersea Power

Station looks much as it always has done. Dominating the skyline on the

south bank of Chelsea Bridge. It is only when you get inside that you

appreciate the scale of the industrial vandalism that has taken

place. The destruction looks almost apocalyptic. In the beginning of the

1920s, London was powered by smaller electricity substations. This really

was the first cathedral of power. Tim Jones is from English Heritage,

an expert in the preservation of London's historic buildings. Work

started in 1929. Although from the outside it looks as if it was built

in one goal quickly, it was built over a long period of time. The

building was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, who also gave us

Waterloo Bridge and the red telephone box. How has it got into

this stage? Was decommissioned in 1983, and there have been numerous,

sadly aborted schemes since then. That has resulted in the machinery

being stripped out. Part of the roof going. It is a robust building. But

no salvation for Europe's largest brick built structure is at hand.

Work has begun on restoring this temple of power to some of its

former glory. These contractors working beneath one of the huge

chimney stacks are in the vanguard are one of the biggest restoration

projects ever undertaken in Britain. Is there enough left to be worth

preserving? Certainly. If you see it from the outside, it is largely

intact. What will be healthier, shops, apartments etc? It would be a

new town. We would have a new tube station serving it. Retail and

leisure facilities, apartments, penthouses, officers. It is one of

the most important landmarks in the country and it will be the centre of

a substantial new development. After 30 years work has now begun. What is

your feeling about that? Absolutely delighted. It is amazing to see the

building work going on around us. Work has finally started 30 years

after it was decommissioned. I will be meeting the architect with the

job of recording everything that has survived, later. This gives us the

character of the original building. Rather than sweeping of all away and

are becoming another bland office development. If everything goes to

plan, Battersea Power Station will eventually find itself taken of the

English Heritage at risk register. But new cases of architectural

neglect are coming to light all the time, ready to take the place of

those buildings of the enough to be safe.

I am off to Twickenham. This modest but elegant little house close by

the River Thames, is called Sandycombe Lodge. When its

celebrated owner built at 200 years ago, this was the middle of the

countryside. `` revealed it. Back in the early part of the 19th century,

the house was the cosy rural retreat William Turner, the artist.

The house from wary too much of his inspiration. Where does the name,

Sandycombe Lodge, from? This is a slope. It was very sandy. The

building is in the hands of a charitable trust. This is the house

that Turner Field? This is the house that Turner built. He designed it

himself. We can see it in his sketchbooks. These are joined by

him. He said if he could have his life again in his own architect.

England could have lost one of its greatest architects. You could have

been the successor to Sir Christopher Wren. He deeply enjoyed

drawing buildings, buildings and landscapes. And here, the

opportunity to be his own architect. Why did he choose to come to the

country? I think he wanted to get away from the pressures of London,

the Royal Academy, clients pestering him, and his mistress. He wanted to

get away from them? Yes, it seems that. He loves `` macro you love

this area. `` he loved this area. He wanted to get away from the misfits,

the children, to be solo, on his own, in this. Solus Lodge. Then in

the cellar it becomes all too clear why it has been placed on the 'at

risk' register. This is the basement where the kitchen was. It is cold

and damp. There is a musty smell in the air. This was the result of the

last few years, and the heavy rainfall we have had. The ceiling

collapsed. Rain started to seep in. The plaster could not hold any more

water. Upstairs you quickly appreciate that there is still

plenty of Turner's rural idyll worth preserving. This is very elegant,

isn't it? It is. Where did he get his ideas? A lot of it comes from

his great friend, Sir John Sole, the architect. He was building a town

house in Lincolns Inn Fields at the same time this house was being

built. There are so many similarities. I think there is

enough left here. What an idyllic spot it must've been. Tim Jones is

responsible for compiling the 'at risk' register for London. How come

where we are standing now, Bert Turner stood, when did you decide

this was at risk? To we thought, after the last dollars passed away,

this was an opportunity. It draws attention to the plight and the

parable of the building, and it raises public interest and public

awareness. There is a great yearning to keep buildings like this going.

They should go on forever, with care and attention. What did he do here?

He certainly entertained close friends. Usually fellow artists, but

sometimes people he felt at ease with. Did he work here? We cannot

prove that but it would be very odd if he did not. He always carried

sketchbooks with him. Any decorative traces of Turner have long been

covered over with wallpaper and paint over two centuries. I am

trying to take a paint sample, record the location, photograph it

and I will be able to examine it. Helen Hughes is a restoration

detective. She is hunting for clues about the decorative scheme Turner

may have chosen. This is the dining room. There is work going on. What

am I supposed to be looking at? We are trying to establish the original

declaration that Turner applied when he moved into the house. This is an

exciting discovery. We have been working here this morning. We have

removed some damp wallpaper and noticed this patter on. What I have

done this morning is identified that plaster there. I have removed that.

And you see, we have exposed some wood in beading. `` wouldn't

beading. This could have been an area that was perhaps hung with a

mirror. The ultimate object is to rediscover the colours that he used.

What have you found so far? Behind all of this wallpaper, you can see

traces of paint. It is a dark am a pink paint. There may be the remains

of a marble scheme. Painted marbling. This is what it could have

been like in Turner's day? It would have looked better. We discovered

this this morning while we have been here. Amazing. We have uncovered

some of the secrets here and now. And could Turner himself have done

this? I think he would have got the decorators in. He was a man! The

trustees have been given a small development grant to kick`start

their campaign to raise the ?2 million needed for the restoration.

If this were a painting by Turner, you would have millions at your

disposal because everybody would want a share in a painting by Turner

but it is a work of art because it is designed by him. It is a work of

art but in 3`dimensional. What are your plans for this? To return it as

closely as we can find out as to how it was in Turner's time. But then

also to make it a place people will want to visit. They will want to

come and take part in artist workshops, for instance. But we do

still need quite a lot of money. Money is one thing that Battersea

Power Station has been granted a considerable amount of by its

managing developers. The project is expected to cost a call three

quarters of ?1 billion. This room looks to be in full working order.

This is control some `` control room B. This was the knee of censure.

Have I turned out all the lights in London? You have just switched off

Wimbledon. We cannot restore this back to its fully working order but

we can certainly refurbish the machinery we can see. David has

spent the last few months conducting a detailed survey of everything that

has survived here. Battersea Power Station, it is probably more

important of gaining a thorough understanding of what is left. What

was that? It is one of the original light switches we have judged as

being in very poor condition. So you are an architectural archaeologist?

There is certainly an element of detective work. What do you call

this book? It is a gazetteer. It is an inventory of all the remaining

features in the power station. Like the lavatory? That is quite a

special 1950s lavatory. So it is down to that kind of detail?

Exactly. It gives us the character of the original building. Rather

than sweeping it all away and it becoming a bland office development.

Can you give us an idea of the scale? This is a scale drawing of

Saint Pauls Cathedral fitting inside Battersea Power Station. It fits in

with room to spare. You can get the whole of Saint Pauls Cathedral with

room to spare? It really is a fantastic undertaking. In a moment,

the man in charge of the Battersea Power Station development reveals

his plans for the restoration. The North West Jimmy `` North West Jimmy

will become a viewing platform where people can see the rest of London.

But first, I want to take you back in time because it is ten years

since the BBC first highlighted the plight of much of our heritage in

the Restoration series. You will remember, the programmes where we

were asked to vote on the buildings we most wanted to save from ruin. To

needy Restoration cases particularly stood out for me and I want to know

what has happened to them. One is Strawberry Hill, the new Gothic

fantasy house built in south`west London. The other, Broomfield

house, a hauntingly ruined mansion held together by scaffolding and

standing in the middle of a park in palmers Green. The architect and a

building surveyor cast their expert eyes over both these buildings for

the original series. Such a dire state. It must be one of the most

evocative ruins I have ever been into. Ten years on, they are going

back to discover whether time has ravaged or restore them. It is nice

to be brought out of retirement. They start with Strawberry Hill and

a quick reminder of the state the building was in ten years ago. I was

so excited to come because I had always heard of the building. You

read about this in all the architectural textbooks. It is a

seminal moment. I remember all that cement render. This grinding, deep

penetrating sets of damp and gloom. You have got all this problem of

dampness in this corner and it is destroying this plaster. Look at all

of this. You can see the whole thing is really loose and this is probably

holding up the building. If any house ever deserved to have the

millions spent on it and be saved, this is it. Let's go and have a

look. The architect began work on his dream home in the 1740s, adding

medieval style battlements as the mood took him. He created his own

architectural movement `` movement, Strawberry Hill Gothic. The first

thing that strikes me is the relief that the cement render has gone

because that was so distressing before. So great. You felt as though

the whole thing was being suffocated. Now look at it. It is

not just white, it is lime wash like. It is like a toy fort. Up

until now Gothic had been left in the Middle Ages and suddenly, here

he is, saying, we can do something in Gothic. If it looks this good on

the outside, I can't wait to see what it looks like on the inside.

The past ten years has indeed been kind to Strawberry Hill. A ?5

million grant from the Heritage lottery fund has seen its fortunes

and fabric transform. Ten years ago it was a very sad and unloved place

not lived by anybody and abandoned and in need of some restoration and

tender loving care. This is extremely interesting. A bit of

luck, I think we could find this is the original decorative scheme. The

restoration has meant that because of everything we have found, digging

in walls and finding much more original material than we ever

believed was here, that we have been able to bring it back to sparkling

sense of what it was like in the 18th century. Wow! What a room! You

can't help but look at this ceiling. It is amazing. But what is more

amazing it has survived over 250 years. It is amazing it survived

over the last ten years. It all looked rather hopeless. But look,

the joy is relived. You expect this ceiling to be made out of stone but

it was made out of Pappy mache and they could actually formate and cast

it and carve it, essentially. It is nice to come back here and not have

to say to you, I hope it is going to need restoration. It has been done.

Horace Walpole never believed it would survive. He had this, said

that it would be a paper heist that would blow away. For a building of

this bridge Liddy, it has not, and I think he would be amazed at how it

looks now. It is absolutely beautiful. A wonderful roof light.

It has been beautifully done with real craftsmanship, proper funds,

nothing has been left to chance. It has been done fantastically well and

you can see the quality of the work. I feel really happy that this

building has survived. This tangible memory of that wonderful, joyful

period at the end of the 18th`century when they could do

anything, they were rewriting the rules of architecture. I look at

this building and I think, thank goodness it is here. Let's carry on

having fun. So what of the fate of the fire

ravaged Broomfield's `` Broomfield Has? Do you remember when there was

hardly anything less? It was just charred timbers everywhere. There is

the staircase. The wonderful about this house is that although it looks

so terrible, there is actually quite a lot yet that is salvageable. Let's

see what sort of state it is in now. Broomfield house has been standing

in the centre of Broomfield Park since the 16th century. It started

life as a modest farmhouse and has been much altered and embellished

over the years. The mansion was bought by the local council in the

1900 and in time was a health centre, in museum and a cafe. That

was until a series of fires in the 80s and 90s group `` gradually

reduced it to ruin. Absolutely nothing has happened. Ten minutes

ago I was vaguely optimistic and now I am just appalled.

When we came last, we went inside. We wandered all around the ground

floor. You had this wonderfully gracious staircase that would have

gone here. The way it now disintegrates into nothing, you have

to imagine that it went gliding up at a right angle turn. This was a

Rolls`Royce of staircases. Now we can't even go beyond the

hoarding it is so dangerous. It is the centre of the park, it explains

why the park is here, it is the main important country house in this part

of Middlesex. If it is taken away, you are left with no understanding

of why it is here. Aborted plans to create low`cost housing and a failed

lottery bid have condemned Broomfield house to its current

state. The local council is adamant it does not have the money to pay

for the restoration itself. I have got requirements coming out of my

years, I have got housing requirements coming out of my ears,

the capital fund is stretched beyond its limits at the moment and the

next few years, councils have got even bigger percentage cuts than

they have had in the last four years so we are not looking at an always

wonderful horizon which is bright and bubbly. A local community group

is pinning its hopes on a revived bid for money from the lottery but

nothing can be guaranteed. We have always believed that house should be

restored and it should be as a community resource. Maybe we will

just have to do the shell of the house up. We will then do other work

step`by`step. But there is a credible at a gap at the moment in

the sense that the Lehr `` lottery Heritage fund knocks us back. Nobody

is going to help with a project that has not got wheels on it. My fear is

that we would not then be able to attract money from other sources and

so the option at the moment is, we would have to pack it shop because

it would not be a sustainable structure. There are hundreds of

examples of how historic buildings in historic parks can be revived and

turned into all sorts of things. Between them the local authority,

the heritage bodies, the community, why can't they come together and

sort this out? As Broomfield House gradually

deteriorates, developers at that has the power station are showing off

their plans. What is your ambition? We want to make Battersea Power

Station one of London's most exciting and unique developments,

building on the heritage of this fantastic building. Can you restore

it to its former glory? All the heritage that is there, we will

restored and do as much as we can and make it available to the general

public. Will you still have the chimneys? They will be replaced with

exact replicas will stop they will be exactly the same materials, the

same specification, but we have got to replace them because they have

structurally failed and big chunks are falling off. So it is not

restoration, it is replication. It is, but you can't do anything else

at this stage. You are a developer, you need to make your money, how can

we be sure you will not cut corners? I have always said that Battersea

Power Station is the absolute key to this project. It is the key to the

entire site. We are out at the moment sourcing the original

Manufacturer 's of light fittings, brickworks, with the bricks came

from, we are doing as much quality control of the heritage as we

possibly can. How can you add English Heritage make sure the

developers actually stick to their word? The proposals as submitted and

approved our fantastically detailed and that covers the works, the

chimneys, the brickwork, the type of bricks that will be used, so we will

be working very close with all those involved in the power station to

make sure that it is not just back brought back to life but brought

back to life perfectly. Is it going to happen in my lifetime? Are we

going to see this brought back to its former glory? We will be opening

Battersea Power Station to the public at the end of 2018, perhaps

2019. Where is my flat going to be? I think it should be on the roof.

Overlooking the Thames? I think it would be perfect. It has got my name

written all over it. So what have we got in store for the next couple of

years for London's battle architecturally? Turner's house in

Twickenham, will it give up more of its secrets? Can Broomfield House

find the saviour it so badly needs and rise Phoenix like from the

ashes? Will Battersea Power Station keep its architectural integrity

intact during its multi`million pound Malaysia make over? And what

further blighted buildings will come to light and joined the next edition

of the Restoring England's Heritage 'at risk' register? You can find out

more about all these buildings by going to the BBC website. And if you

missed any of it, you can catch up on BBC iPlayer.

Hello, I'm Ellie Crisell with your 90 second update.

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flood warnings are in force with homes being evacuated. Your forecast

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