Mount Stewart, County Down, and Sion Stables, Sion Mills are set to be covered in the second episode of the series (Thursday 30th March) which is presented by Kevin McCloud. The series runs for 4 weeks – each week on Thursday at 8pm.
The presenters, who also include the Landmark Trust’s Dr Anna Keay, showcase palaces, watermills, department stores and music halls. The buildings featured, which span nine centuries, were brought back from the brink of ruin, in some cases costing millions of pounds of public money.
Restoration of the Year is a new award judged by the RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors). It looks at buildings from the pre-Georgian, Georgian, Victorian and 20th-century periods, and at the end of each programme, each era winner is announced. The overall victor will be revealed at the close of the fourth and final episode.
Alongside Kevin and Anna, Historic Building Surveyor Marianne Suhr and Architectural Historian Dr Jonathan Foyle uncover the stories behind each extraordinary project. At the end of the episode Kevin and Anna hear which building the RICS judges have placed onto the short list for the ultimate title of ‘Restoration of the Year’.
This is the second episode, and explores some truly magnificent structures of the nineteenth century, in the Victorian category.
Anna Keay unearths the incredible skills used to rescue the majestic Mount Stewart, an imposing country house in County Down. And in stark contrast she unpicks the unique approach to the restoration of a Victorian music hall; Wilton’s in East London. Architectural Historian, Dr Jonathan Foyle, is in Wales where one of the greats of Victorian industrialisation has been reborn – the Pump House at Barry. And in Stornoway in the Scottish Highlands Historic Building Surveyor, Marianne Suhr, gets under the skin of a medieval-style castle that suffered for years at the hands of the harsh Hebridean weather, but which now stands proud once again.
Viewers will also enjoy the restorations of St Peter’s Church in Harrogate, Portico in Portaferry, Printhall 1B at Leeds City College, Maling Exchange at Hoults Yard in Newcastle and Sion Stables in Sion Mills, County Tyrone.
At the end of the episode Kevin and Anna hear which building the Judges from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors have shortlisted to be in the running for the ultimate accolade of ‘Restoration of the Year’.
Further information is available at www.channel4.com
