Restoration Home

St Thomas a Becket church in Somerset is on the heritage critical list and badly in need of rescue. A flood in 1968 led to the church's eventual deconsecration and it is just one of many churches in Britain that has been declared redundant. Decline in church-going and amalgamation of parishes have put a huge swathe of our architectural heritage in peril.

Nutbourne pumping station in West Sussex is a wreck. It closed in the 1970s and is now an industrial-size bunker full of rusting, redundant, heavy duty machinery. But this ruin was at the heart of a revolution that saved our grandparents' generation and changed society forever.

Stoke Hall is a 30-room Georgian mansion whose future has been far from certain for decades. The leaking roof and widespread rot makes securing the building difficult and expensive. At risk of being lost forever is the Hall's 250-year-old Georgian décor which miraculously has survived.

Years of neglect have left fungus growing on walls running wet with damp and timbers so rotten that one good storm might bring down the roof. Stanwick Hall is in appalling condition and faces an incredible battle for survival, which City high-flyers Gina and Simon have taken on. The Hall is on the buildings-at-risk register which means it is one of the most endangered structures in the country.

Calverton Manor is a collage of different architectural styles with parts thought to date back as far as the 14th century. And it comes with its very own legend involving a rich widow, the local butcher, pots of gold and murder.

Once a building of grandeur and influence, Big House is now a carcass. But digging deep into the archives, the property's historical and architectural roots, gives an insight into the wealth and power of an empire built on one of the country's most precious commodities - coal.