0:00:02 > 0:00:09Historic houses both humble and grand have all played their part in the story of our nation,
0:00:09 > 0:00:15but today many are at risk and some in danger of being lost for ever.
0:00:15 > 0:00:18I'm going to be following the fortunes of six properties,
0:00:18 > 0:00:22all facing their own struggle for survival.
0:00:25 > 0:00:27- Oh, look, you can see the rout.- Yeah. - Wow!
0:00:29 > 0:00:33It's like walking into a Tudor fantasy.
0:00:33 > 0:00:35This is not quite what I was expecting.
0:00:36 > 0:00:42And they all have new owners, committed to turning them into their dream home.
0:00:42 > 0:00:45It's a bit like a little, old lady waiting for a facelift
0:00:45 > 0:00:47and we're coming in to make her better.
0:00:47 > 0:00:51I never, ever, thought I'd do a project like this in my life.
0:00:53 > 0:00:56I have spent years restoring derelict, old properties,
0:00:56 > 0:01:01and having poured everything in trying to create my perfect family home.
0:01:01 > 0:01:06I know what a challenge it is to rescue a precious old building.
0:01:07 > 0:01:11There's a lot riding on it and it's scary times.
0:01:11 > 0:01:14We love it, we want to finish it, but sometimes it just feels like too much.
0:01:16 > 0:01:19It's Restoration Home.
0:01:30 > 0:01:34I love it here in Norfolk.
0:01:34 > 0:01:38I love the wide, open land and the vast skies.
0:01:38 > 0:01:41Historically, it's a difficult place to make your mark.
0:01:41 > 0:01:45There's very little decent building stone here,
0:01:45 > 0:01:49so craftspeople have had to resort to using flint, or mud.
0:01:49 > 0:01:54So any house that has withstood these elements for hundreds of years
0:01:54 > 0:01:57is going to be in a pretty frail state.
0:01:57 > 0:02:01Renovating a house in this landscape is going to cost,
0:02:01 > 0:02:04and not just financially.
0:02:07 > 0:02:12This is the Old Manor in the central Norfolk village of Saham Toney,
0:02:12 > 0:02:16a Grade 2 listed house that dates back centuries,
0:02:16 > 0:02:21but has accumulated an extraordinary mixture of architectural styles along the way.
0:02:23 > 0:02:25It's a house that's full of history,
0:02:25 > 0:02:30but the question is, can it be unlocked before it's too late?
0:02:33 > 0:02:38Old Manor is on her last legs, beset with damp,
0:02:38 > 0:02:42woodworm and Death Watch beetle.
0:02:42 > 0:02:47You'd think this was the last restoration project anyone would consider taking on,
0:02:47 > 0:02:53but the Old Manor has found an eager would-be saviour.
0:02:55 > 0:02:59This hotchpotch of an historic building has been bought
0:02:59 > 0:03:02by solicitor Polly Grieff and her husband, Erichh.
0:03:04 > 0:03:09That beam up there, look, it's got some kind of mould on it.
0:03:09 > 0:03:10It does need changing.
0:03:10 > 0:03:14When you walk into a house, sometimes there are friendly houses and unfriendly houses.
0:03:14 > 0:03:16This one is a friendly house.
0:03:16 > 0:03:19It's a bit like a little, old lady waiting for a facelift
0:03:19 > 0:03:23and we're coming in to make her better.
0:03:23 > 0:03:26- An expensive facelift.- Yeah.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29I shall never be able to afford one for myself once I've paid for this!
0:03:29 > 0:03:32A lot of the building looks like it needs far more serious surgery.
0:03:32 > 0:03:35- This is rotten.- Is it crumbling?
0:03:38 > 0:03:41The world thinks I'm completely mad, but sometimes you've got to go with your heart.
0:03:41 > 0:03:45If you're going to take on a challenge, you might as well take on a big one!
0:03:46 > 0:03:49That was made the day you were born.
0:03:49 > 0:03:50Oh, thank you so much.
0:03:50 > 0:03:52Souvenir!
0:03:52 > 0:03:54As you're older than I...
0:03:56 > 0:04:00The connection Polly instantly feels with the Old Manor
0:04:00 > 0:04:03somehow overrides any of her doubts.
0:04:03 > 0:04:07It's this staircase that made me fall in love with this house.
0:04:07 > 0:04:10It's so solid, it's proper English oak.
0:04:10 > 0:04:12You couldn't shape this banister.
0:04:12 > 0:04:15Even though the rest of it might be crumbling around my ears,
0:04:15 > 0:04:18this is still here and it's not going anywhere!
0:04:18 > 0:04:22Polly paid £400,000 to buy Old Manor,
0:04:22 > 0:04:27but at the moment she and Erichh live 200 miles away in Liverpool.
0:04:29 > 0:04:33She's been married to her French husband for 29 years.
0:04:33 > 0:04:37He retired from a very demanding career in forensic psychology,
0:04:37 > 0:04:40dealing with paedophiles, rapists and murderers.
0:04:40 > 0:04:44He spends his time in his garden
0:04:44 > 0:04:48and brings me roses, which is more than I can ask of anyone, really.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51Say, please, please, please, please.
0:04:51 > 0:04:54You good girl. You good girl.
0:04:54 > 0:04:56Polly's work as a solicitor is based in London,
0:04:56 > 0:05:01though she spends most of her time travelling or working from home.
0:05:01 > 0:05:04With three grown-up sons who've fled the nest,
0:05:04 > 0:05:07she's decided it's now time she and Erichh moved to the country.
0:05:09 > 0:05:13They've chosen Norfolk because that's where Polly's side of the family originally comes from.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16She will be managing this restoration,
0:05:16 > 0:05:21but they both see the Old Manor, and the two acres of land that came with it,
0:05:21 > 0:05:25as a legacy for their children and grandchildren.
0:05:25 > 0:05:28For us, it's very deep inside.
0:05:28 > 0:05:32We need to be passing on something, but not just money.
0:05:32 > 0:05:36It's about the idea of dynasty.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39It's about the idea of family buying a piece of land, buying a house,
0:05:39 > 0:05:43and staying in that house and moving that house on down the generations.
0:05:44 > 0:05:50The other attraction of Norfolk is that Polly and Erichh's grandchildren are also living here.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53- What's that?- A stone.
0:05:53 > 0:05:56It's a stone, isn't it? It's a funny one.
0:05:56 > 0:05:58I'm a hands-on grandma, like I was a hands-on mum.
0:05:58 > 0:06:01So...it's important.
0:06:01 > 0:06:07Polly's 25-year-old son Max, and his young family, live a short distance from the Old Manor.
0:06:07 > 0:06:12It means Max, who's a builder, can help out with the restoration.
0:06:12 > 0:06:14I think it's a very beautiful house.
0:06:14 > 0:06:20It needs a lot of work and that's why I'm on the job, ready to do it.
0:06:20 > 0:06:23My parents have looked after me and brought me up very well,
0:06:23 > 0:06:27so it's about time I paid them back a bit, you know.
0:06:28 > 0:06:35Polly dreams of the day when she can move her huge family dining table from Merseyside to Norfolk.
0:06:36 > 0:06:42When I was looking for a house to buy, it had to be a house that could accommodate this table.
0:06:42 > 0:06:46This table will be going into the panelled room,
0:06:46 > 0:06:48the Jacobean panelled room in the Manor.
0:06:48 > 0:06:52The oak panelling in the Old Manor's ground floor dining room
0:06:52 > 0:06:59has managed to survive for 400 years, but it's seriously at risk.
0:06:59 > 0:07:02I've loved this room ever since I first saw it. It needs attention.
0:07:02 > 0:07:07On the other side of the room it's got Death Watch beetle in it.
0:07:07 > 0:07:12So, I want to save this. It's got drawing pins in it.
0:07:12 > 0:07:17It's been battered. It's been generally knocked about a lot
0:07:17 > 0:07:19but it's still very, very beautiful.
0:07:21 > 0:07:26Throughout the house, there might be other costly surprises lying in wait.
0:07:28 > 0:07:33Polly's son Max fears the extensive 20th century repairs
0:07:33 > 0:07:38to the Old Manor's pebble-dashed walls could be hiding very bad news.
0:07:39 > 0:07:43Unfortunately, in the '60s, this greyer stuff
0:07:43 > 0:07:50is the concrete render that the '60s people decided to spoil the house with,
0:07:50 > 0:07:54which is not allowing the oak beams to breathe.
0:07:54 > 0:07:58They've all got dry rot and woodworm and everything
0:07:58 > 0:08:01due to the fact that they put this on.
0:08:02 > 0:08:07They've yet to discover how big a problem they have on their hands.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10All the beams, you can see in here, it looks like a honeycomb.
0:08:10 > 0:08:13It's all very easy to break.
0:08:13 > 0:08:18That's why we've got to take the whole lot off,
0:08:18 > 0:08:20all of this off and check each beam.
0:08:20 > 0:08:24Polly has hired a firm of architectural consultants
0:08:24 > 0:08:28to draw up the restoration plans and manage the build.
0:08:28 > 0:08:34She's received listed building consent from the local planning authority for what she wants to do.
0:08:36 > 0:08:39The most radical part of the restoration involves adding
0:08:39 > 0:08:42a three-storey extension at one end of the building.
0:08:44 > 0:08:48It will give the Old Manor a modern kitchen and dining area.
0:08:48 > 0:08:51The three existing ground floor rooms will be restored
0:08:51 > 0:08:55as a formal dining room, living room and study.
0:08:55 > 0:08:58Upstairs will be three bedrooms
0:08:58 > 0:09:01and a new stand-alone bathroom on the first floor,
0:09:01 > 0:09:06with a fourth bedroom and ensuite bathroom at attic level.
0:09:12 > 0:09:17Polly's restoration of the Old Manor isn't going to come cheap.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20We're looking to spend between 200 and 300,000
0:09:20 > 0:09:23to get it to be the splendid house it's going to be in the end.
0:09:23 > 0:09:29Erichh is on a modest pension and Polly is the main breadwinner now.
0:09:29 > 0:09:33She will be relying mainly on her income as a company solicitor
0:09:33 > 0:09:37to fund and drive this restoration forward.
0:09:37 > 0:09:41But it won't be enough to see the whole restoration through.
0:09:41 > 0:09:45If we can sell the house in Liverpool, then that's fine, we've got enough to cover it.
0:09:45 > 0:09:49It's juggling the financial balls, keeping them all in the air while getting this project finished,
0:09:49 > 0:09:52which is going to be the major problem, I can see.
0:09:52 > 0:09:58If they can sell the Liverpool house, Polly thinks the restoration of the Old Manor
0:09:58 > 0:10:00could be finished in around 18 months.
0:10:00 > 0:10:03It's obviously going to be an enormous amount of work,
0:10:03 > 0:10:06which half terrifies and half thrills me.
0:10:06 > 0:10:10I can't imagine a better feeling than seeing something like this
0:10:10 > 0:10:13come together and almost raising this house from the ashes.
0:10:13 > 0:10:18I can't see there's going to be much more excitement in a restoration project than that.
0:10:20 > 0:10:25If Polly manages to save this building, it won't just be a triumph for her and her family,
0:10:25 > 0:10:27because buried in the Old Manor's crumbling DNA
0:10:27 > 0:10:33are century after century of precious British history.
0:10:33 > 0:10:38But it's a history that's going to take some serious detective work to unravel.
0:10:40 > 0:10:43Starting with the Domesday Book, Doctor Kate Williams
0:10:43 > 0:10:46will try and find the earliest historical references
0:10:46 > 0:10:50to the house and land that Polly and Erichh have bought.
0:10:52 > 0:10:56And architectural expert Kieran Long begins his investigation
0:10:56 > 0:11:01by trying to make sense of the extraordinary mixture of styles on display in one building.
0:11:01 > 0:11:05Wow! It doesn't look that special in some ways.
0:11:05 > 0:11:09It's a bit of a pebble-dashed haunted house.
0:11:09 > 0:11:13There are already some things that are really interesting about it,
0:11:13 > 0:11:17these fantastic chimney stacks, they're really spectacular.
0:11:17 > 0:11:22The other funny thing, there are all sorts of little baubles all around it.
0:11:22 > 0:11:26They've been used to pretty it up, these funny minaret towers,
0:11:26 > 0:11:32and even this bay window here with its strange balustrade.
0:11:34 > 0:11:39On the western side of the house, there are clues as to how old it might be.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42We've got this typical suburban pebble dashing,
0:11:42 > 0:11:48and then in front of us here, something that's unmistakably ancient fabric.
0:11:48 > 0:11:51This could be 16th century, perhaps even older than that.
0:11:51 > 0:11:54You can tell by the proportions of the door, first of all.
0:11:54 > 0:11:56People were shorter, it's as simple as that.
0:11:56 > 0:12:00If this is 500 years old, the average height of a farmer in Norfolk
0:12:00 > 0:12:02would probably be a head shorter than me,
0:12:02 > 0:12:04so this would have been fine.
0:12:06 > 0:12:11But it's on the other side of the house, where the modern concrete render has fallen away
0:12:11 > 0:12:16and exposed original timbers, that Kieran finds the clearest evidence yet
0:12:16 > 0:12:20the Old Manor started life as a medieval building.
0:12:20 > 0:12:25Perhaps at first glance you might expect this to be a brick house that's been pebble-dashed.
0:12:25 > 0:12:29But, no, much older style of construction
0:12:29 > 0:12:35with a timber frame and this adobe wall, which you can see falling to pieces, this mud wall.
0:12:35 > 0:12:40That puts this back in the 15th or 16th century in terms of construction.
0:12:40 > 0:12:44There's not a lot of stone in Norfolk, so this was a typical construction of that era,
0:12:44 > 0:12:47for this part of the world.
0:12:47 > 0:12:53Inside the house, there's more evidence of very old construction methods in the partition walls.
0:12:56 > 0:13:01You have these branches, birch tree, perhaps, maybe an oak tree.
0:13:01 > 0:13:03They're just thin branches, laid vertically.
0:13:03 > 0:13:07They would have been bound together somehow as a kind of base
0:13:07 > 0:13:10on which to put the render and the plaster.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13The quality of this wood and the condition of this wood is extremely impressive,
0:13:13 > 0:13:17and it's because it's been treated the way it should be treated,
0:13:17 > 0:13:20it has lime plaster over the top, it's allowed to breathe,
0:13:20 > 0:13:23so it's not rotting away like the timbers we saw outside.
0:13:24 > 0:13:27It's difficult to tell how long a house with walls of timber and mud
0:13:27 > 0:13:32might have stood on this site, but Kieran has already discovered
0:13:32 > 0:13:37there's far more to the Old Manor than hotchpotch and pebbledash.
0:13:37 > 0:13:39It's an amazing survival, in a way.
0:13:39 > 0:13:43No doubt there's been a farmhouse here of some kind for a very long time.
0:13:43 > 0:13:47There are traces of that original building that we can still see today.
0:13:51 > 0:13:55Kate Williams wants to find out if the Old Manor is mentioned
0:13:55 > 0:13:58in one of our oldest historical documents of all.
0:13:58 > 0:14:03The Domesday Book has been described as England's greatest treasure.
0:14:03 > 0:14:06It was William the Conqueror's guide to all the taxable land
0:14:06 > 0:14:10in his kingdom in the year 1086.
0:14:10 > 0:14:13I'm looking at the facsimile of the Doomsday Book
0:14:13 > 0:14:15here in the National Archives.
0:14:15 > 0:14:17It's really a most incredible document.
0:14:17 > 0:14:21It's almost like the whole of the 11th century is at my fingertips
0:14:21 > 0:14:22and about to come to life.
0:14:22 > 0:14:26I'm looking here at the Norfolk section of the Doomsday Book.
0:14:26 > 0:14:27This is essentially the index.
0:14:27 > 0:14:31Here we have all the lords of the manor in the area, the real bigwigs.
0:14:33 > 0:14:37Kate finds a reference to 60 acres of land in Saham,
0:14:37 > 0:14:41where the Old Manor is located.
0:14:41 > 0:14:44There's no mention of a house, but at the time of the Domesday Book
0:14:44 > 0:14:47a "manor" meant far more than just a building.
0:14:48 > 0:14:52A manor is a huge and important thing in the 11th century.
0:14:52 > 0:14:56A man is in charge of this, he's got serfs, he's got knights.
0:14:56 > 0:14:58I mean, he has his own personal army.
0:14:59 > 0:15:05It turns out the man who owned Polly's land 20 years after the Norman Conquest
0:15:05 > 0:15:09was Roger Bigot, a powerful ally of King William
0:15:09 > 0:15:12and one of the first Earls of Norfolk.
0:15:13 > 0:15:17It was Roger Bigot and his family who built the impressive
0:15:17 > 0:15:2312th century Framlingham Castle, just 40 miles from the Old Manor.
0:15:25 > 0:15:28Polly's house might not be mentioned in the Domesday Book,
0:15:28 > 0:15:33but there's no doubt its timber frame has been supporting the building for centuries.
0:15:34 > 0:15:36What Kieran finds upstairs
0:15:36 > 0:15:40confirms the scale of the restoration Polly has on her hands.
0:15:42 > 0:15:44The revealing thing up here
0:15:44 > 0:15:47is just what a terrible state this structure is in.
0:15:47 > 0:15:51Look at the size of this timber and how much load this must be carrying.
0:15:51 > 0:15:55It's just sheared-through, almost.
0:15:56 > 0:15:59Scattered throughout the house are important clues
0:15:59 > 0:16:02to its history.
0:16:02 > 0:16:06This doorway is really quite finely made.
0:16:06 > 0:16:09There's even coats of arms here, and so on.
0:16:11 > 0:16:14In the entrance hall are pieces of stained glass
0:16:14 > 0:16:18that once belonged in a medieval religious building.
0:16:25 > 0:16:30To me, this is an incredible survival of something really precious and beautiful.
0:16:36 > 0:16:39It's summer, 2011.
0:16:39 > 0:16:43Nine months after Polly and Erich bought the house.
0:16:43 > 0:16:47The planning is over and at last, the restoration of Old Manor is underway.
0:16:49 > 0:16:52To inspect the roof timbers which make up the Old Manor's skeletal frame,
0:16:52 > 0:16:57Polly and the builders have agreed that all the roof tiles need to be removed.
0:16:58 > 0:17:01It means erecting scaffolding over the whole house -
0:17:01 > 0:17:05which will also allow the concrete render on the walls to be taken off,
0:17:05 > 0:17:09so damp in the Old Manor's supporting timbers
0:17:09 > 0:17:11can be properly assessed.
0:17:15 > 0:17:20With Polly's dream family home shrouded in weatherproofing,
0:17:20 > 0:17:21I'm paying my first visit
0:17:21 > 0:17:25to find out how she feels about what lies ahead.
0:17:25 > 0:17:31We've got to get the plastic over to take the roof off.
0:17:31 > 0:17:33We've got to get the plastic over to get the rendering off.
0:17:33 > 0:17:35So the scaffolding being up is the real kick-off point.
0:17:35 > 0:17:38This is where it actually really begins.
0:17:38 > 0:17:43But there's no actual restoration possible yet.
0:17:43 > 0:17:48Polly's still at the stage of investigating what might be wrong with the place she's bought.
0:17:48 > 0:17:51This is a massive undertaking for you.
0:17:51 > 0:17:54You could buy land. You could come home to Norfolk, buy land and a nice, simple house
0:17:54 > 0:17:56that you could do quite quickly,
0:17:56 > 0:17:59but you've decided to plough all your energy into this
0:17:59 > 0:18:01because...?
0:18:01 > 0:18:02This house just called to me.
0:18:02 > 0:18:04I must have looked at 200-300 houses.
0:18:04 > 0:18:06CAROLINE GASPS
0:18:06 > 0:18:10When I came down, I visited every house that could possibly
0:18:10 > 0:18:12fit my dining table.
0:18:12 > 0:18:14I just saw it and I wanted it.
0:18:14 > 0:18:18I saw it and I fell in love with it, and I thought, "This is the house that I want to make home."
0:18:18 > 0:18:21In the site Portakabin, Polly shows me
0:18:21 > 0:18:25her plans for the new extension to her Grade II-listed house.
0:18:26 > 0:18:28It's going at the north end of the building,
0:18:28 > 0:18:32where she was allowed to demolish the 19th century outhouse
0:18:32 > 0:18:35and positively encouraged by the local conservation officer
0:18:35 > 0:18:37to build something modern.
0:18:37 > 0:18:40We talked a lot about evolution of the building.
0:18:40 > 0:18:44He told me quite categorically that if I wanted to put an extension on the end,
0:18:44 > 0:18:47I would have to replace it with something 21st century,
0:18:47 > 0:18:49not with a facsimile of what was there.
0:18:49 > 0:18:51So I thought, "If I'm going to do this,
0:18:51 > 0:18:53"I don't want to build something ordinary.
0:18:53 > 0:18:55I want something extraordinary.
0:18:55 > 0:18:57I want something in keeping with the house.
0:18:57 > 0:18:59One of the things I love about this house so much
0:18:59 > 0:19:03are those pointed eves,
0:19:03 > 0:19:04and the feeling of height,
0:19:04 > 0:19:06and the great, long chimneys.
0:19:06 > 0:19:09I wanted something which kept the same sort of skyward emphasis.
0:19:09 > 0:19:11Absolutely, and you've done that.
0:19:11 > 0:19:13This here...
0:19:13 > 0:19:17- It's glass.- This is glass, and this is your kitchen.- Yes.
0:19:17 > 0:19:18And this up here is...?
0:19:18 > 0:19:20That side will be my dressing room,
0:19:20 > 0:19:26and that side is my new bathroom on the first floor.
0:19:26 > 0:19:30A few months ago, Polly thought the total cost of the restoration
0:19:30 > 0:19:33might come to between £200,000 and £300,000.
0:19:33 > 0:19:38As the builders start to assess the extent of the work that might be needed,
0:19:38 > 0:19:39she's had to think again.
0:19:39 > 0:19:43Did you pay £400,000 for the house?
0:19:43 > 0:19:46For the house and the plot of land it sits in.
0:19:46 > 0:19:48What's your budget, Polly?
0:19:48 > 0:19:53I shan't be cutting my throat if I have to pay the purchase price over again.
0:19:53 > 0:19:56But at the moment, it will cost what it costs.
0:19:56 > 0:19:59I have money set aside, and fortunately, I also have
0:19:59 > 0:20:02a job which will pay me sufficient
0:20:02 > 0:20:04to be able to carry on putting money aside.
0:20:04 > 0:20:08I'm glad you are looking at it in those terms,
0:20:08 > 0:20:11because I think it will take a lot of money,
0:20:11 > 0:20:16because it's very detailed, very beautiful, complex.
0:20:16 > 0:20:19It's fragile.
0:20:26 > 0:20:29Three weeks later, the roof of the Old Manor has been stripped bare.
0:20:35 > 0:20:38The concrete render on the walls is being prised off
0:20:38 > 0:20:41to get a closer look at the timbers
0:20:41 > 0:20:43that have been suffocating behind it.
0:20:51 > 0:20:53It's not good news.
0:20:53 > 0:20:57The builders are finding more damage by deathwatch beetle,
0:20:57 > 0:21:00an insect, native to Britain,
0:21:00 > 0:21:02that thrives on the fungal decay caused by damp.
0:21:02 > 0:21:06Its name comes from the ominous tapping sound
0:21:06 > 0:21:10the adult insects make in the rafters of old churches.
0:21:10 > 0:21:14But it's the deathwatch beetle's larvae that bore through timber
0:21:14 > 0:21:16in the most devastating way.
0:21:16 > 0:21:19That's what deathwatch beetle does.
0:21:19 > 0:21:24Basically turns wood into honeycomb. Just falls apart in your hands.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27It will just chew through all the wood.
0:21:27 > 0:21:30They're the ones that done the most damage.
0:21:30 > 0:21:32Then there's termites and whatever else we can find in there.
0:21:32 > 0:21:36Some of these timbers might survive with repair and treatment,
0:21:36 > 0:21:39but many will need replacing.
0:21:39 > 0:21:42This is all the dust and larvae and stuff.
0:21:42 > 0:21:45At the top, this bit of wood looks all right,
0:21:45 > 0:21:46but then you get down here,
0:21:46 > 0:21:49and it's just pretty poor.
0:21:51 > 0:21:55As the builders try to get to grips with one alarming problem,
0:21:55 > 0:21:58they uncover another.
0:21:58 > 0:22:02It turns out the concrete render that caused so much damage by sealing in damp,
0:22:02 > 0:22:06has actually been helping the building to stay standing.
0:22:06 > 0:22:11We think the render is pretty much holding the walls together.
0:22:11 > 0:22:12By taking this render off,
0:22:12 > 0:22:14effectively we're weakening the walls.
0:22:15 > 0:22:19With the walls now stripped back to their centuries-old timber and mud,
0:22:19 > 0:22:22the builders are taking no chances.
0:22:22 > 0:22:27They're fitting temporary bracing to the Old Manor's exposed original structure.
0:22:31 > 0:22:35At the moment, we're having to take the slow approach,
0:22:35 > 0:22:39because the house is unstable. Well, we believe it's unstable.
0:22:39 > 0:22:41at this present moment in time.
0:22:41 > 0:22:45Old Manor is now at its most vulnerable.
0:22:45 > 0:22:48Stripped of its roof and walls,
0:22:48 > 0:22:51it's now just the skeleton of the old Tudor house
0:22:51 > 0:22:53it started its life as.
0:22:55 > 0:22:58Inside though, there are puzzles to the building's history
0:22:58 > 0:23:00that Kieran wants to solve.
0:23:00 > 0:23:02The beautiful stained glass windows
0:23:02 > 0:23:04seem out of character in this old house.
0:23:04 > 0:23:06So how did they get there?
0:23:11 > 0:23:16Norwich is just 30 miles from Saham Toney.
0:23:16 > 0:23:19In medieval times, this was the second-biggest city in the country,
0:23:19 > 0:23:22and was home to over 50 churches.
0:23:23 > 0:23:27It became a centre of excellence for stained glass-making.
0:23:27 > 0:23:31St Peter Mancroft church has some of its finest.
0:23:31 > 0:23:36Here, Kieran has tracked down expert David King.
0:23:39 > 0:23:42One of the main reasons we've come to talk to you about this
0:23:42 > 0:23:46is this picture, which is from the Old Manor,
0:23:46 > 0:23:49of what we always thought looked like a piece of stained glass,
0:23:49 > 0:23:51but had no idea where it might have come from.
0:23:51 > 0:23:55The first thing that shouts out from this picture to me -
0:23:55 > 0:23:57that it's made in Norwich.
0:23:57 > 0:24:00Right - what tells you it's made in Norwich so immediately?
0:24:00 > 0:24:02That is actually the style.
0:24:02 > 0:24:04There is one motif, which is...
0:24:05 > 0:24:09..these little trefoils along the hem, there.
0:24:09 > 0:24:11Right. OK, OK.
0:24:11 > 0:24:14The two bishops depicted at the top, there.
0:24:14 > 0:24:16They really have a lot of similarities.
0:24:16 > 0:24:19They do, yes. If you look at the mitre,
0:24:19 > 0:24:21it's got these little circles round the edge,
0:24:21 > 0:24:24The same with the crosier.
0:24:24 > 0:24:27- Yes.- And the poses are not dissimilar.
0:24:27 > 0:24:30It could indeed be the same person.
0:24:30 > 0:24:32I think you have to go to the church
0:24:32 > 0:24:34where I think it comes from.
0:24:34 > 0:24:36That will give us some historical background.
0:24:36 > 0:24:39So you think you know the precise location where this was taken?
0:24:39 > 0:24:41I think I do, yes.
0:24:41 > 0:24:43This is an amazing breakthrough.
0:24:43 > 0:24:47David believes he knows where the glass was originally from.
0:24:47 > 0:24:50I have a black-and-white photograph here
0:24:50 > 0:24:52of some of the window in Great Cressingham church,
0:24:52 > 0:24:55which is not far from the Manor House.
0:24:55 > 0:25:01And I think that this panel here comes from that place there,
0:25:01 > 0:25:03- because this glass doesn't belong there.- Right.
0:25:03 > 0:25:06And it's a different style.
0:25:06 > 0:25:08One thing you need to know about this
0:25:08 > 0:25:10is that it's inside out.
0:25:10 > 0:25:12It does happen that glass gets input inside out.
0:25:12 > 0:25:14So somebody just found it attractive,
0:25:14 > 0:25:16wanted to knock together a bit of a surround for it,
0:25:16 > 0:25:18- and didn't think which way it was facing?- Quite.
0:25:18 > 0:25:22When this was the other way round, this was a matching figure to this one,
0:25:22 > 0:25:24and they were stood facing each other,
0:25:24 > 0:25:26the two bishops.
0:25:26 > 0:25:29And that's where I think it came from -
0:25:29 > 0:25:31that panel there.
0:25:33 > 0:25:38Great Cressingham church is just a few miles east of Saham Toney.
0:25:38 > 0:25:42So could this be the place where Old Manor's stained glass
0:25:42 > 0:25:44originally comes from?
0:25:46 > 0:25:50If it is - it's a remarkable piece of historical detective work.
0:25:56 > 0:25:59It's so extraordinary, really, to stand here
0:25:59 > 0:26:00and be in front of the window
0:26:00 > 0:26:03that David King pointed us to.
0:26:03 > 0:26:08There are the six openings that once held six bishops, and they still do.
0:26:08 > 0:26:11But we can see that the third-from-the-left opening
0:26:11 > 0:26:13contains a different kind of bishop.
0:26:13 > 0:26:16This is clearly a replacement, and this is the very spot
0:26:16 > 0:26:19where Old Manor's bishop once was.
0:26:19 > 0:26:22We know that because, just as David described to us,
0:26:22 > 0:26:25it mirrors precisely the form of the bishop
0:26:25 > 0:26:29on the opposing, fourth opening.
0:26:29 > 0:26:34So that light - the distinctive shape of the panel containing the head -
0:26:34 > 0:26:36is not mirrored here, but is in Old Manor's.
0:26:36 > 0:26:41So we know that's exactly the spot it was originally placed.
0:26:42 > 0:26:44It's most likely that the glass
0:26:44 > 0:26:47was removed from the church after the Reformation
0:26:47 > 0:26:49and then later sold on.
0:26:49 > 0:26:52It was happening to churches all over the country,
0:26:52 > 0:26:57and meant that stained glass and other artefacts ended up on the open market.
0:26:57 > 0:27:01Kieran has come down to Strawberry Hill in south-west London.
0:27:01 > 0:27:05In the 18th century, it was the home of the historian,
0:27:05 > 0:27:09art enthusiast and collector, Sir Horace Walpole.
0:27:09 > 0:27:12One of the things about Strawberry Hill that's so extraordinary
0:27:12 > 0:27:14is all of the stained glass that Walpole collected,
0:27:14 > 0:27:18from a wide variety of sources,
0:27:18 > 0:27:21to piece together in these windows, and the windows he designed and created.
0:27:21 > 0:27:25So, like Old Manor, it has this feeling
0:27:25 > 0:27:29of stuff drawn from many different sources, according to taste,
0:27:29 > 0:27:33to give the house a sense of the ancient, a sense of heritage,
0:27:33 > 0:27:35a sense of origins, if you like.
0:27:35 > 0:27:38It was Walpole who, in bringing all this stained glass together,
0:27:38 > 0:27:41started a craze, a mania for buying old stained glass,
0:27:41 > 0:27:45and just applying it in domestic buildings.
0:27:45 > 0:27:48So, at the Old Manor, there's something of the same sensibility,
0:27:48 > 0:27:50though without the kind of artistic control.
0:27:50 > 0:27:54There's this idea that if you bring together pieces of old stuff,
0:27:54 > 0:27:56and collage it and arrange it in the right kind of way,
0:27:56 > 0:27:58you can bring some instant heritage -
0:27:58 > 0:28:01some kind of ersatz history - to your own family.
0:28:01 > 0:28:04I think that's what's going on at the Old Manor.
0:28:09 > 0:28:13Back at the site, the contractors have uncovered a major problem.
0:28:15 > 0:28:18With all the concrete pebble dash removed, site manager Nick
0:28:18 > 0:28:22has realised that the whole building is going to need underpinning.
0:28:23 > 0:28:28The house was constructed onto a compressed sand
0:28:28 > 0:28:29and flint base.
0:28:29 > 0:28:31It's stood the test of time,
0:28:31 > 0:28:33but because we're pulling the house apart,
0:28:33 > 0:28:36we've now freed up a lot of timbers and walls
0:28:36 > 0:28:40which would enable it to move a little bit more than it originally would have done.
0:28:40 > 0:28:43If we're going to put an extension onto the side of the house,
0:28:43 > 0:28:46we need the two to move together,
0:28:46 > 0:28:48if at all, really.
0:28:48 > 0:28:52What we can't afford to have is the original moving...
0:28:54 > 0:28:56..and the new stood still.
0:28:58 > 0:29:00Underpinning the house involves
0:29:00 > 0:29:04digging out over a metre of earth from under the walls,
0:29:04 > 0:29:07then inserting a concrete footing
0:29:07 > 0:29:09and a layer of bricks to deepen the foundations.
0:29:11 > 0:29:15Nick is overseeing a very careful, methodical operation.
0:29:17 > 0:29:20Because we've got such an unstable wall,
0:29:20 > 0:29:23we have to attack it bit by bit.
0:29:23 > 0:29:26If we took the whole section of the wall out, the whole house could drop.
0:29:26 > 0:29:29So we're doing it in metre-square sections.
0:29:29 > 0:29:32That measurement we've agreed with our engineer.
0:29:32 > 0:29:37We dig a hole. We then miss one and move on to dig the next one.
0:29:37 > 0:29:41It just gives us that support on the house, whilst we're digging.
0:29:41 > 0:29:43Once we've cast the concrete in the first hole,
0:29:43 > 0:29:45we can then dig the second hole,
0:29:45 > 0:29:48and it's a process we repeat right round the house.
0:29:48 > 0:29:51It's the last thing that Polly wanted to hear.
0:29:51 > 0:29:55The underpinning work means delays and more bills.
0:29:55 > 0:29:58With the Liverpool house still unsold,
0:29:58 > 0:30:00money is beginning to be a problem.
0:30:00 > 0:30:04It's cost around 30,000 altogether,
0:30:04 > 0:30:07so it was very expensive - not just in terms of actual work,
0:30:07 > 0:30:09but all the ancillary costs.
0:30:09 > 0:30:11The Portakabins and the skips,
0:30:11 > 0:30:14and all the things you have to hire,
0:30:14 > 0:30:17are still on site for many more months than they needed to be.
0:30:17 > 0:30:19With a house of this age,
0:30:19 > 0:30:22there is always likely to be things which come up,
0:30:22 > 0:30:25and there is a certain amount of contingency
0:30:25 > 0:30:26in the budget.
0:30:26 > 0:30:30But it's been a bit of a blow.
0:30:32 > 0:30:36As the builders wrestle with the very foundations of the house,
0:30:36 > 0:30:39historian Kate Williams wants to try and find out
0:30:39 > 0:30:45who actually lived in the Old Manor all those centuries ago.
0:30:45 > 0:30:48She's come to the County Record Office in Norwich
0:30:48 > 0:30:51to consult a unique set of antiquarian volumes
0:30:51 > 0:30:52about Norfolk's past.
0:30:55 > 0:31:00What I really want to look at is this - the Francis Blomefield's History of Norfolk,
0:31:00 > 0:31:03that he wrote in the 1740s and 1750s,
0:31:03 > 0:31:07and was finally published in the early 19th century.
0:31:07 > 0:31:10It's an invaluable insight into Norfolk throughout the ages.
0:31:10 > 0:31:14He goes right back to the medieval times.
0:31:14 > 0:31:17Kate discovers the land in Saham Toney originally
0:31:17 > 0:31:19owned by Roger Bigot in the Domesday Book
0:31:19 > 0:31:24is known by a specific name from some point in the Middle Ages.
0:31:24 > 0:31:28This is a completely new name here - Page's Manor,
0:31:28 > 0:31:31which wasn't in the Domesday Book.
0:31:31 > 0:31:33I think it's interesting,
0:31:33 > 0:31:36because Old Manor stands on Page's Lane,
0:31:36 > 0:31:38so it seems very much Page's Manor is the same place
0:31:38 > 0:31:40as the Old Manor.
0:31:42 > 0:31:45Looking at later documents,
0:31:45 > 0:31:47Kate learns that by the 17th century,
0:31:47 > 0:31:49the land had a house on it called Page's Place.
0:31:51 > 0:31:53Whoever owned the house in this period
0:31:53 > 0:31:56added the oak-panelled Jacobean dining room.
0:31:59 > 0:32:03And it's here that the builders have found yet another problem.
0:32:03 > 0:32:07This wall is on the verge of collapse.
0:32:08 > 0:32:11The base of a timber-framed building is supported
0:32:11 > 0:32:15by crucial horizontal beams called the sole plate.
0:32:15 > 0:32:18But the centuries-old beams in this corner of the house
0:32:18 > 0:32:20have rotted away.
0:32:20 > 0:32:22The original sole plate to the house
0:32:22 > 0:32:25sat at such a level that the ground level
0:32:25 > 0:32:27was actually in line with the sole plate.
0:32:27 > 0:32:30So any moisture from the ground was being drawn in by the timbers.
0:32:30 > 0:32:33The timbers above it were drawing in the moisture as well,
0:32:33 > 0:32:35and therefore the bottom halves of the timbers
0:32:35 > 0:32:37had all perished.
0:32:37 > 0:32:40To make matters worse,
0:32:40 > 0:32:43this is the end of the building where the new extension will go.
0:32:45 > 0:32:48It's an emergency that requires a new oak sole plate
0:32:48 > 0:32:51to save the Jacobean room and stabilise the house.
0:32:53 > 0:32:56The sole plate is quite a substantial-sized piece of timber.
0:32:56 > 0:33:01Basically, that will now take the weight of the frame.
0:33:01 > 0:33:03That is your rock, really.
0:33:06 > 0:33:09Weighing around a half a ton,
0:33:09 > 0:33:12the new oak beam is carefully manoeuvred into place.
0:33:19 > 0:33:21New mortise joints have been cut,
0:33:21 > 0:33:24so the sole plate should slot into the original timbers above.
0:33:28 > 0:33:32One false move by site manager Nick, operating the telehandler,
0:33:32 > 0:33:34could be disastrous.
0:33:36 > 0:33:38Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!
0:33:44 > 0:33:47Eventually, the new timber is coaxed into place,
0:33:47 > 0:33:51and, for now at least, everyone can breathe a sigh of relief.
0:33:57 > 0:33:59We'll underpin all this,
0:33:59 > 0:34:02remove all this old brickwork, concrete under it,
0:34:02 > 0:34:05then it'll be bricked up, right underneath the wood, tight.
0:34:05 > 0:34:08This wood now takes the weight of everything above it.
0:34:08 > 0:34:11Once we've got the foundation, like Kev said,
0:34:11 > 0:34:13there should be no room for it to move.
0:34:13 > 0:34:17We'll have a solid wall, and that will tie in nicely with the extension
0:34:17 > 0:34:18we put on the side of the house.
0:34:21 > 0:34:25With the underpinning underway and the new sole plate in place,
0:34:25 > 0:34:28the restoration is finally moving forward.
0:34:28 > 0:34:31Old Manor is still a fragile building
0:34:31 > 0:34:34but she's no longer on the critical list.
0:34:34 > 0:34:36It's always alarming to see your house
0:34:36 > 0:34:38stripped back to the bare bones,
0:34:38 > 0:34:41with nothing to protect it from the elements,
0:34:41 > 0:34:45apart from a flimsy piece of plastic, just flapping in the breeze.
0:34:45 > 0:34:49The Old Manor is particularly vulnerable at the moment,
0:34:49 > 0:34:53with Polly's costs escalating,
0:34:53 > 0:34:56and disaster waiting around every corner.
0:34:56 > 0:34:59But no-one could love this house
0:34:59 > 0:35:02as much as Polly does.
0:35:02 > 0:35:07She has fallen under the spell of its magnificent chimney stacks
0:35:07 > 0:35:09and its beautiful wooden panelling.
0:35:13 > 0:35:17You don't start something and then just walk away,
0:35:17 > 0:35:19and throw your hands in the air cos it gets difficult.
0:35:19 > 0:35:23People have said to me, "Why don't you just bulldoze it,
0:35:23 > 0:35:25"or let it fall down by itself?"
0:35:25 > 0:35:28But that's not what I'm about. That's not what this project is about.
0:35:28 > 0:35:30The project is about getting this house
0:35:30 > 0:35:35back into a liveable state for me and for my family.
0:35:36 > 0:35:39Practically the only structures unaffected by the work so far
0:35:39 > 0:35:41are the chimneys,
0:35:41 > 0:35:45and architectural expert Kieran wants to know why
0:35:45 > 0:35:47Old Manor has such an impressive set.
0:35:49 > 0:35:52He's come to Framlingham Castle in Suffolk
0:35:52 > 0:35:54where he hopes to find some answers.
0:35:54 > 0:35:59When Roger Bigot's family built this castle in the 12th century,
0:35:59 > 0:36:01it was a revolutionary building.
0:36:01 > 0:36:05This is the place where the idea of chimneys began in England.
0:36:05 > 0:36:09These were flues that were part of a transformation
0:36:09 > 0:36:11in British architecture,
0:36:11 > 0:36:13in domestic architecture, which goes from having a fire
0:36:13 > 0:36:15in the middle of the room and a hole in the roof,
0:36:15 > 0:36:18to having a fireplace in the wall and a flue taking the fumes
0:36:18 > 0:36:22up and away and out through a chimney stack.
0:36:22 > 0:36:27Of course there are Tudor chimney stacks also on top of these more ancient medieval flues,
0:36:27 > 0:36:31so this is also a place where the chimney stack becomes incredibly important
0:36:31 > 0:36:33as a decorative piece - as an expression
0:36:33 > 0:36:36of wealth and power and cultivation.
0:36:40 > 0:36:45The Tudor chimneys at Framlingham Castle were added in the 1500s.
0:36:45 > 0:36:49The main chimney stack at the Old Manor is believed to have been added
0:36:49 > 0:36:51less than 100 years later.
0:36:54 > 0:36:57When you look at the brickwork, there are real similarities with Old Manor's.
0:36:57 > 0:37:00These kind of thin bricks from the Tudor period.
0:37:00 > 0:37:03You can tell by their proportions they're not the bricks of today.
0:37:03 > 0:37:06This is a kind of older style.
0:37:06 > 0:37:10In the County Records Office in Norwich, Kate has had a breakthrough.
0:37:10 > 0:37:14In a 400-year-old document, she's uncovered the name of the owner
0:37:14 > 0:37:18who could have commissioned the grander features of the Old Manor,
0:37:18 > 0:37:21then known as Page's Place.
0:37:21 > 0:37:24Looking under Page's Place here in the Record Office,
0:37:24 > 0:37:26I found a will that relates directly to it.
0:37:26 > 0:37:31It's a will from 1612, by one Edward Goffe, of Thraxton.
0:37:31 > 0:37:34This is the first time I've actually found a reference to someone
0:37:34 > 0:37:37who lived at our house, Page's Place, and going right back to 1612.
0:37:37 > 0:37:43The will suggests the owner of Page's Place was a wealthy
0:37:43 > 0:37:46and generous figure, supporting almshouses and the local poor.
0:37:48 > 0:37:51Edward Goffe was a really important philanthropist.
0:37:51 > 0:37:53Page's Place gives an annuity
0:37:53 > 0:37:55of over £5 a year.
0:37:55 > 0:37:59That will be used to maintain a free school he set up in Saham Toney.
0:37:59 > 0:38:04What it's essentially doing is making sure the community survives without him.
0:38:04 > 0:38:08Edward Goffe died right in the middle of the Jacobean era,
0:38:08 > 0:38:10the early 1600s.
0:38:10 > 0:38:13That date is a near-perfect match for the date
0:38:13 > 0:38:16of the Old Manor's oak-panelled dining room,
0:38:16 > 0:38:18which was built around a fireplace
0:38:18 > 0:38:20with a central flue topped by those
0:38:20 > 0:38:23spectacular Tudor-style chimney stacks.
0:38:23 > 0:38:25It's very likely that the house we see today,
0:38:25 > 0:38:28or at least the core of it built round the chimney,
0:38:28 > 0:38:32was built by Edward Goffe in the late 16th/early 17th century.
0:38:32 > 0:38:35This is the man who built the house we have today.
0:38:39 > 0:38:44400 years later, Polly's workforce is still in the process
0:38:44 > 0:38:48of rescuing the Jacobean panelled room from collapse.
0:38:48 > 0:38:53New timber sole plates have now been fitted at the base of three supporting walls,
0:38:53 > 0:38:58and the foundations are being completed using traditional materials.
0:38:58 > 0:39:02We're just bricking up underneath this beam to support it.
0:39:02 > 0:39:06There'll be a new brick-and-flint-work
0:39:06 > 0:39:07skin around the outside,
0:39:07 > 0:39:10that will match in with the existing.
0:39:10 > 0:39:12We use lime mortar,
0:39:12 > 0:39:16and we have to use the old-fashioned red bricks,
0:39:16 > 0:39:17reclaimed,
0:39:17 > 0:39:21and the flint work is all reclaimed, as well.
0:39:21 > 0:39:25You're just using a heap of rubble, virtually,
0:39:25 > 0:39:29and you end up with something that's going to be there for a long while.
0:39:38 > 0:39:43The Old Manor has now been covered in scaffolding for four months,
0:39:43 > 0:39:45and until all the underpinning is finished,
0:39:45 > 0:39:48the real work of restoration cannot begin.
0:39:51 > 0:39:55Polly, working flat-out in her job as a solicitor,
0:39:55 > 0:39:58is counting the cost in time and money.
0:39:58 > 0:40:01I suppose I've spent about 100,000 so far,
0:40:01 > 0:40:03and, to be honest, it doesn't look like a house any more.
0:40:03 > 0:40:06It's like a chimney with a whole load of sticks round it.
0:40:06 > 0:40:09So it's not terribly impressive for the amount I've laid out.
0:40:11 > 0:40:15You have to do the underpinning, the treatment of the wood,
0:40:15 > 0:40:17but it does seem to be
0:40:17 > 0:40:20that it's costing a fortune and I have nothing there to show for it
0:40:20 > 0:40:22but a skeleton house.
0:40:27 > 0:40:31To make matters worse, the one thing that would have eased Polly's financial worries
0:40:31 > 0:40:35simply hasn't happened.
0:40:35 > 0:40:42I had planned originally, when taking on the project, to finance it by the sale of the house in Liverpool.
0:40:42 > 0:40:45Unfortunately, due to the "credit crunch" and general downturn,
0:40:45 > 0:40:47it hasn't sold.
0:40:47 > 0:40:49So I'm having to find the money
0:40:49 > 0:40:53for the rest of the project out of my own finances, which is quite hard going sometimes.
0:40:56 > 0:40:58My whole future is invested in the Norfolk house.
0:40:58 > 0:41:01It's frustrating it's going so incredibly slowly,
0:41:01 > 0:41:02and costing so very much.
0:41:04 > 0:41:07You get a vision, start working, then it starts hitting you in the pocket,
0:41:07 > 0:41:09and it hurts a lot more than you think it's going to.
0:41:12 > 0:41:14Two months later,
0:41:14 > 0:41:17the Old Manor is still waiting for a way out of its troubles.
0:41:19 > 0:41:22The house in Liverpool remains unsold.
0:41:22 > 0:41:27With Erich retired, the main financial strain is falling on Polly.
0:41:28 > 0:41:34She's paying two mortgages, which are enormous.
0:41:34 > 0:41:37But...
0:41:37 > 0:41:39she would never show it.
0:41:39 > 0:41:42- Even to you?- Not even to me.
0:41:42 > 0:41:44We do have arguments.
0:41:44 > 0:41:47You can't marry a Frenchman and not have an argument,
0:41:47 > 0:41:50but...
0:41:50 > 0:41:54we always find out the solution to everything.
0:41:54 > 0:41:56There's no going back now for you as a family, is there?
0:41:56 > 0:41:59You have to finish this house because you can't sell it.
0:41:59 > 0:42:02No, we have to finish it,
0:42:02 > 0:42:06and it will be finished. It looks bad, but it's not that bad.
0:42:06 > 0:42:08It's not that bad - I've seen worse.
0:42:08 > 0:42:09I've seen worse.
0:42:09 > 0:42:11Have you, Erich?
0:42:11 > 0:42:14- Yes.- Cos I've seen a lot of houses,
0:42:14 > 0:42:16and that one looks pretty frail to me.
0:42:16 > 0:42:23Erich and Polly visit the Old Manor whenever they can, staying in the caravan they have on site.
0:42:23 > 0:42:28Erich didn't like the house at first, but he always supported Polly in her dream.
0:42:28 > 0:42:32To say the truth, I hated the house. When I saw the house,
0:42:32 > 0:42:34it was like a ruin.
0:42:34 > 0:42:36You couldn't do anything. You wouldn't be able to live in it.
0:42:36 > 0:42:39You wouldn't even put your dog in it.
0:42:39 > 0:42:41It's only for the last three or four months,
0:42:41 > 0:42:45since they removed all the rendering and all the plastering
0:42:45 > 0:42:48that I fell in love with the house, because of the beams.
0:42:48 > 0:42:51I love this house because of the wood.
0:42:51 > 0:42:54Come and sit down. Come, come!
0:42:54 > 0:42:57Where I see frailty in the old beams,
0:42:57 > 0:43:00Erich now sees something different.
0:43:00 > 0:43:07Without the walls, without a roof, you can still see how beautiful it could look.
0:43:07 > 0:43:09Look at the top one.
0:43:09 > 0:43:11Doesn't it look like a boat?
0:43:11 > 0:43:12It does look like a boat!
0:43:12 > 0:43:14Look.
0:43:14 > 0:43:18Seeing those perfect beams - a straight beam coming down,
0:43:18 > 0:43:22which has moved and bends a bit with the time.
0:43:22 > 0:43:24An enormous beam on the side,
0:43:24 > 0:43:26which has been eaten by whatever.
0:43:26 > 0:43:27It's the deathwatch beetle.
0:43:27 > 0:43:29- Deathwatch.- Yeah, yeah.
0:43:29 > 0:43:32They all need replacing,
0:43:32 > 0:43:34but, you know, it's there.
0:43:34 > 0:43:36You've got the skeleton,
0:43:36 > 0:43:38now you just have to put the skin on it.
0:43:38 > 0:43:40And that's it. And he walks.
0:43:40 > 0:43:42SHE LAUGHS
0:43:46 > 0:43:50'Despite all that's happened, it seems nothing can dent
0:43:50 > 0:43:54'Polly's dream of the Old Manor becoming her perfect family home.'
0:43:54 > 0:43:57Has there ever been a moment when you thought,
0:43:57 > 0:44:00"I really wish I hadn't taken this on"?
0:44:00 > 0:44:04- Not yet.- Really, Polly? Never a moment?
0:44:04 > 0:44:08Never a moment of thinking, "Why did I start? This is just huge!"
0:44:08 > 0:44:10When I have to find the money for stuff, I think,
0:44:10 > 0:44:12"I could spend this money on something else,"
0:44:12 > 0:44:17but I've got a vision of what it's going to be,
0:44:17 > 0:44:19and you have to go through the lows, as well as the highs.
0:44:19 > 0:44:22I have more idea of exactly what I'll do
0:44:22 > 0:44:25decoration-wise, and where I'm going to put stuff.
0:44:25 > 0:44:26SHE LAUGHS
0:44:26 > 0:44:29Oh, I love you. You're talking about decoration...
0:44:29 > 0:44:32I'm standing here in a pile of sticks, talking about decoration.
0:44:32 > 0:44:36- As you hang onto the Acrow prop, tell me where the sofa's going to go!- Over there.
0:44:36 > 0:44:38SHE LAUGHS
0:44:38 > 0:44:39Bless your heart!
0:44:40 > 0:44:46In the course of this restoration Polly has faced problem after problem.
0:44:51 > 0:44:57So it's difficult to believe that Old Manor could possibly have another setback in store.
0:44:57 > 0:45:01Least of all, what was to happen just a few weeks after my visit.
0:45:04 > 0:45:10Polly's son Max discovers the house has been broken into and trashed.
0:45:10 > 0:45:13Someone - we're not sure who -
0:45:13 > 0:45:15has come in during the evening, when no-one's here.
0:45:15 > 0:45:19They've put holes in the ceilings
0:45:19 > 0:45:21in pretty much each room.
0:45:37 > 0:45:41The ceiling of the 400-year-old Jacobean-panelled room,
0:45:41 > 0:45:46only recently saved from collapse - has been ripped open.
0:45:50 > 0:45:57A whole wall supporting part of the solid oak staircase that Polly loves has been kicked in.
0:45:57 > 0:46:01There was a wall, coming to here,
0:46:01 > 0:46:03and this is now levitating.
0:46:03 > 0:46:06The whole floor here for the stairs is now not safe at all,
0:46:06 > 0:46:10so if anyone stands on that, it's broken.
0:46:12 > 0:46:16It's just the sheer mindless idiocy
0:46:16 > 0:46:19of people who come in with no intent other than to do damage.
0:46:19 > 0:46:20Which I can't understand,
0:46:20 > 0:46:23and having spoken to various people in the village,
0:46:23 > 0:46:25no-one else understands, either.
0:46:27 > 0:46:30The vandals nearly escaped with one precious piece
0:46:30 > 0:46:33of the Old Manor's fabric - the finely-carved door frame
0:46:33 > 0:46:37with a coat of arms, which used to be in the entrance hall.
0:46:40 > 0:46:43There was, in here,
0:46:43 > 0:46:47a beautiful archway, carved out years ago.
0:46:47 > 0:46:50They've pulled the whole frame and the post out of the wall
0:46:50 > 0:46:53and attempted to steal it,
0:46:53 > 0:46:58but fortunately our neighbour has a light, and he's flashed a light and scared them off.
0:46:58 > 0:47:01It is a bit of a shock
0:47:01 > 0:47:03to think people would do something like this,
0:47:03 > 0:47:06maliciously, really.
0:47:09 > 0:47:11It makes us more determined than ever
0:47:11 > 0:47:15to get this house into a state where we can actually live in it
0:47:15 > 0:47:18and make it beautiful again.
0:47:19 > 0:47:22The police are investigating,
0:47:22 > 0:47:26but for the moment at least, the restoration of Old Manor has been put on hold.
0:47:26 > 0:47:31With her Liverpool house still unsold, Polly has run out of money,
0:47:31 > 0:47:34and all building work has stopped.
0:47:38 > 0:47:41Our historical investigation, though, can continue.
0:47:41 > 0:47:44The damaged archway has been locked away,
0:47:44 > 0:47:48but it does have an intriguing carving on its top corner -
0:47:48 > 0:47:50a coat of arms.
0:47:50 > 0:47:53Kate wants to know if this will provide another clue
0:47:53 > 0:47:55to Old Manor's history.
0:47:55 > 0:48:00She's tracked down Ron Fiske, a local heraldry expert.
0:48:00 > 0:48:03This to you, Ron, looks like a coat of arms of the Tudor period.
0:48:03 > 0:48:06We're going right back to the 16th century here with this family.
0:48:06 > 0:48:09You can tell that a little from the shape of the shield
0:48:09 > 0:48:12and the fact that there's a bit of curling over
0:48:12 > 0:48:14at the top.
0:48:14 > 0:48:16Where it's divided in two,
0:48:16 > 0:48:19it actually represents marriage.
0:48:19 > 0:48:23And this left-hand side would be the gentleman,
0:48:23 > 0:48:26and the right-hand side is his wife.
0:48:26 > 0:48:28The man's coat of arms
0:48:28 > 0:48:30is an unusual coat.
0:48:30 > 0:48:33- There are not too many people who have this wavy band.- Mm.
0:48:33 > 0:48:35It looks like a snake, doesn't it?
0:48:35 > 0:48:38That is a family called Goldingham.
0:48:38 > 0:48:39Oh!
0:48:39 > 0:48:41I can show you that in here.
0:48:41 > 0:48:42You've got the same...
0:48:42 > 0:48:44Oh, yes, exactly the same.
0:48:44 > 0:48:45..wavy band here.
0:48:45 > 0:48:50We know that he died in 1516.
0:48:50 > 0:48:55That confirms that it is a Tudor coat of arms, as does the shape of the shield.
0:48:56 > 0:49:00The Goldinghams had their seat at Belstead Hall in Suffolk,
0:49:00 > 0:49:03which is over 50 miles away from Saham Toney.
0:49:03 > 0:49:06So how did the Tudor archway, with its coat of arms,
0:49:06 > 0:49:09find its way to the Old Manor?
0:49:09 > 0:49:11I think it must have been imported into the house.
0:49:11 > 0:49:13The must have bought it.
0:49:13 > 0:49:17Belstead has been much altered.
0:49:17 > 0:49:20We know from other records that a visitor to Belstead Hall
0:49:20 > 0:49:23found a lot of loose carvings and mouldings.
0:49:23 > 0:49:25Interesting.
0:49:25 > 0:49:29So it's quite possible that somebody doing a house in Norfolk
0:49:29 > 0:49:31would look for artefacts to put in his house.
0:49:31 > 0:49:34So it could have been in the 18th/19th century -
0:49:34 > 0:49:37- we don't know when they purchased it?- That's right.
0:49:37 > 0:49:39So the vandalised 500-year-old Tudor archway
0:49:39 > 0:49:44and the stained glass were brought in to Old Manor as part
0:49:44 > 0:49:47of an 18th or 19th century makeover,
0:49:47 > 0:49:50a fashionable pretension of the period -
0:49:50 > 0:49:54to use architectural salvage to give the house some history.
0:49:59 > 0:50:04It's now two months on and I'm on my way to Old Manor for my final visit,
0:50:04 > 0:50:07to find out what the latest is with this troubled restoration.
0:50:07 > 0:50:10First though, Kate and Kieran are bringing Polly and Erich
0:50:10 > 0:50:14up-to-date with all they've discovered
0:50:14 > 0:50:17about their building's past.
0:50:17 > 0:50:20You are doing it up - you're doing a big change,
0:50:20 > 0:50:23a big DIY job, but throughout history, others have done it up -
0:50:23 > 0:50:25they've added extra chimneys, bits of glass...
0:50:25 > 0:50:27It's not its first facelift.
0:50:27 > 0:50:30It's had a lot of facelifts, and that's why I love it.
0:50:30 > 0:50:35- I'd say this is a building that's never been finished. - No, and probably never will be.
0:50:35 > 0:50:38Kate has unearthed one of the earliest documents that relate
0:50:38 > 0:50:43to the Old Manor - the will of Edward Goffe in 1612.
0:50:43 > 0:50:46This Edward Goffe was an important philanthropist,
0:50:46 > 0:50:48and what's marvellous is he
0:50:48 > 0:50:50founded the school in Saham Toney.
0:50:50 > 0:50:52I don't know whether you knew that.
0:50:52 > 0:50:53- I didn't.- No, no.
0:50:53 > 0:50:56- So you knew the school quite well? - Of course.
0:50:56 > 0:50:58On the house nearby, there's a plaque.
0:50:58 > 0:51:00Just on the other side of the road.
0:51:00 > 0:51:02I've seen the plaque, but never read it.
0:51:02 > 0:51:06So he's the owner of Page's Place, and he also installed the school.
0:51:06 > 0:51:09- So you didn't know that at all? - Had no idea.
0:51:09 > 0:51:11But the thing I love most about your house...
0:51:11 > 0:51:12Are my windows.
0:51:12 > 0:51:15It's so beautiful. It's one of the gems of it.
0:51:15 > 0:51:18I assumed it was stolen at some point from a church.
0:51:18 > 0:51:22We assumed the same thing. You're right, this is stolen property.
0:51:22 > 0:51:25There were several studios working in Norwich at the time.
0:51:25 > 0:51:27Probably the most prominent
0:51:27 > 0:51:29was a man called John Wighton.
0:51:29 > 0:51:33This is almost certainly the work of the Wighton workshop,
0:51:33 > 0:51:36which dates it between 1420 and 1425.
0:51:36 > 0:51:39Which is an ancient piece of glass,
0:51:39 > 0:51:42and also one of the finest pieces of glass
0:51:42 > 0:51:44possible to find in Norfolk.
0:51:44 > 0:51:46It's utterly extraordinary.
0:51:46 > 0:51:47I'm very happy to know that,
0:51:47 > 0:51:50even though it's perhaps stolen property, or...
0:51:50 > 0:51:52- Borrowed.- ..borrowed property,
0:51:52 > 0:51:53it's been saved,
0:51:53 > 0:51:58even if it's in a secular setting. It is safe.
0:51:58 > 0:52:01- Erich, you weren't fond of the house, initially.- I hated it.
0:52:01 > 0:52:04You hated it!
0:52:04 > 0:52:08Does finding out about and exploring this history make you think of it in a different way?
0:52:08 > 0:52:10I've really fallen in love with it,
0:52:10 > 0:52:13but having on top of that some history,
0:52:13 > 0:52:14I feel so proud.
0:52:14 > 0:52:17I don't feel so little any more.
0:52:17 > 0:52:20I feel I'm brave and can be proud of what we're doing.
0:52:29 > 0:52:32Still wrapped in scaffolding nine months after it went up,
0:52:32 > 0:52:37this fascinating old house is far from complete.
0:52:39 > 0:52:43'So on my final visit to Old Manor, I've come to find out how Polly
0:52:43 > 0:52:45'and Erich are coping.'
0:52:47 > 0:52:49Looking at it,
0:52:49 > 0:52:51erm,
0:52:51 > 0:52:53nothing's changed, really, has it?
0:52:53 > 0:52:54Not a lot.
0:52:54 > 0:52:56You could have built
0:52:56 > 0:52:59a new house for the amount of money
0:52:59 > 0:53:00and time you've put into this.
0:53:00 > 0:53:04You probably would have spent less and certainly be in by now,
0:53:04 > 0:53:05wouldn't you?
0:53:05 > 0:53:08That's not what we set out to do.
0:53:08 > 0:53:11We set out to renovate an old building,
0:53:11 > 0:53:14and to do our bit for the evolution of it.
0:53:14 > 0:53:16It's better not to hurry it.
0:53:16 > 0:53:18We're only in our 50s.
0:53:18 > 0:53:20We have another 50 years to live.
0:53:20 > 0:53:23I don't think I have another 50 years for the revisit, Erich,
0:53:23 > 0:53:27so could you trot on?
0:53:28 > 0:53:33Erich is as determined as Polly to see this massive project completed.
0:53:33 > 0:53:36As I see the damage done from the break-in for the first time,
0:53:36 > 0:53:37it's not surprising to see why
0:53:37 > 0:53:41they were both deeply affected by it.
0:53:42 > 0:53:44They've done quite a lot of damage here!
0:53:44 > 0:53:47How does it make you feel, Erich?
0:53:47 > 0:53:50When I saw that, I didn't want to come back in the house for quite a while.
0:53:50 > 0:53:53- You're furious about it? - I'm very angry,
0:53:53 > 0:53:55because it's not...
0:53:55 > 0:54:00it's like attacking the roots...
0:54:00 > 0:54:02of a family. It's an old house.
0:54:02 > 0:54:06It's got some history and it should be respected.
0:54:09 > 0:54:14'Polly's beloved panelled room wasn't spared, either.'
0:54:14 > 0:54:16I'm so sorry, Polly.
0:54:16 > 0:54:19It's really a shame, I'm so sorry.
0:54:19 > 0:54:20Life is like that.
0:54:20 > 0:54:23We'll still get it done, and spite them all.
0:54:23 > 0:54:25- This is all new, isn't it?- Yes.
0:54:25 > 0:54:30That's the thousands and thousands of pounds' worth of underpinning.
0:54:30 > 0:54:31THEY LAUGH
0:54:31 > 0:54:34- It doesn't look much, does it? - But it is holding the room up.
0:54:34 > 0:54:37It's one small victory in a catalogue
0:54:37 > 0:54:39of half-victories.
0:54:39 > 0:54:40It's all good.
0:54:40 > 0:54:44I come in here when I want to recharge my batteries.
0:54:44 > 0:54:47I put my hands on the wall and commune with my house.
0:54:47 > 0:54:49Come over and try.
0:54:49 > 0:54:52- What d'you say to it?- Not a lot.
0:54:52 > 0:54:56It's mostly internal. I just tell it from my head that everything's OK.
0:54:56 > 0:54:59We're getting there. It's all right, don't worry.
0:54:59 > 0:55:00Don't panic!
0:55:02 > 0:55:04How do you remain
0:55:04 > 0:55:06so upbeat
0:55:06 > 0:55:09when everything around you is literally collapsing?
0:55:09 > 0:55:13There is no point in getting downhearted.
0:55:13 > 0:55:15I understand that.
0:55:15 > 0:55:17There is no point,
0:55:17 > 0:55:20but I've been there myself, and though you know there's no point,
0:55:20 > 0:55:23you still do get downhearted.
0:55:23 > 0:55:26And you don't seem to be affected by it.
0:55:29 > 0:55:31I suppose it may well be genetic.
0:55:31 > 0:55:36I'm a "glass-three-quarters-full" girl. Always have been, really.
0:55:39 > 0:55:40Polly's optimism is not misplaced.
0:55:40 > 0:55:44They still haven't sold the Liverpool house,
0:55:44 > 0:55:47but she has managed to secure new funds with the building society.
0:55:47 > 0:55:50It will allow them to start building again.
0:55:50 > 0:55:53They have already spent £100,000 on this restoration,
0:55:53 > 0:55:59and think they will need to spend another 250,000 to finish it.
0:55:59 > 0:56:00Here we are.
0:56:00 > 0:56:04A scene of devastation.
0:56:04 > 0:56:07- But the builders are starting work again?- Yes.- When's that?
0:56:07 > 0:56:12It should be 26th/28th of the month, of April.
0:56:12 > 0:56:14- That would have been a five-month break?- Yeah.
0:56:14 > 0:56:16Starting again in April.
0:56:16 > 0:56:20Whole job will be finished by...? Give me a date.
0:56:20 > 0:56:23We have a bit of a dispute over this.
0:56:23 > 0:56:28I'm optimistic and say it will be done by Christmas 2012.
0:56:28 > 0:56:30And Erich says...
0:56:30 > 0:56:33I'm optimistic thinking it will be summer 2013.
0:56:33 > 0:56:35Will it have been worth every penny?
0:56:35 > 0:56:38Every single round one.
0:56:38 > 0:56:40It will be absolutely worth it.
0:56:51 > 0:56:54Polly didn't have to take on this building.
0:56:54 > 0:56:55Let's face it,
0:56:55 > 0:56:58for a lot less heartache and money,
0:56:58 > 0:57:00she could have built a whole new one.
0:57:00 > 0:57:01So, why didn't she?
0:57:01 > 0:57:03She wanted to create a family home
0:57:03 > 0:57:06that was rich in history
0:57:06 > 0:57:08and character.
0:57:08 > 0:57:11With each new addition to the Old Manor house,
0:57:11 > 0:57:14whether it be the fabulous chimney stacks,
0:57:14 > 0:57:16or the stained glass windows,
0:57:16 > 0:57:20this place has become richer, more interesting.
0:57:20 > 0:57:23But I think, even more significant than that,
0:57:23 > 0:57:25is Polly's input.
0:57:25 > 0:57:29The way she has just ploughed on regardless,
0:57:29 > 0:57:32whatever has been thrown at her.
0:57:32 > 0:57:35Polly often refers to this building
0:57:35 > 0:57:37as "a frail old lady."
0:57:37 > 0:57:41Well, I don't know
0:57:41 > 0:57:44when this place will be finished,
0:57:44 > 0:57:46but there's one lady
0:57:46 > 0:57:48that really impresses me.
0:57:49 > 0:57:50It's Polly.
0:58:01 > 0:58:03Next time on Restoration Home...
0:58:05 > 0:58:07A forgotten timber-framed house is taken on
0:58:07 > 0:58:09by brave new owners.
0:58:09 > 0:58:13This one here appears to be just sitting on a cobweb.
0:58:13 > 0:58:16But as the skilled craftsmen struggle to save it,
0:58:16 > 0:58:19suddenly the whole restoration is in jeopardy.
0:58:19 > 0:58:22- How much of your budget is gone? - All of it.
0:58:46 > 0:58:49Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd