HISTORIC MUSEUM TO HOST BBC’s ‘RESTORATION VILLAGE’ GRAND FINALE

at the
Weald & Downland Open Air Museum,
to be broadcast 17 September 2006
on BBC Two

Admission is by ticket only.  A limited number of tickets is available, telephone 0870 1660441.  This is an outdoor event and audience members will be expected to stand.  Doors open at 7.30pm and the show will be filmed between 9.00pm and 10.15pm.

England’s leading museum of historic buildings and traditional rural life is to be the venue for the grand finale of the new series of the BBC Two ratings hit ‘Restoration’. The series returns to our screens with a move to the countryside: ‘Restoration Village’ will call on the public to participate in saving precious buildings around the UK but with the focus on rural life. The winner will be announced at a live outside-broadcast from the Weald & Downland Open Air Museum, at Singleton, near Chichester, West Sussex this September. 

A total of 21 buildings around the UK have just been unveiled in conjunction with English Heritage and other heritage bodies and will be up for the public vote with the possibility of securing crucial funding to ensure their future. This new incarnation of the series, presented by Griff Rhys Jones, will this year focus on buildings that were once historically important to a local rural community, and could be again. 

Says Griff: "The countryside everywhere is facing change and disruption over the next hundred years. It is going to be a challenge to all of us to manage that change. Restoration is going out to the countryside to look at buildings and the landscape and offer up another twenty one fascinating causes looking for help. It is these neglected ordinary familiar landmarks of the country that we need to save: barns, chapels, farmhouses, inns, workshops. Restoration Village is a fantastic opportunity to see what we value and why on the rural scene." 

Each week Griff and ‘ruin detectives’ Architect Ptolemy Dean and Surveyor Marianne Suhr will profile three architectural gems within a region of the UK and ask viewers to vote for which one should go through to the final. Seven finalists from around the country will then be put forward for the ultimate public vote. A surprise eighth finalist will also join the line-up – this will be the runner-up that receives the most viewer votes across the series.  The winning building will be in line to receive the money accumulated throughout the series.  

The grand final will be held at Weald & Downland Open Air Museum, home to 45 rescued historic buildings re-erected in 50 glorious acres of the South Downs. This fascinating location features the homes, farms and workplaces of the rural south east from the last 500 years, and will provide a fitting backdrop to this exciting programme which focuses so dramatically on rediscovering and preserving our rural heritage.   

Among the contenders are slate quarry workshops in Wales, a Yorkshire Gothic Revival folly which had a practical purpose as a corn mill, Scotland’s oldest surviving purpose-built lighthouse, and the only complete Moravian (pre-Reformation Protestant Church) settlement in Northern Ireland. But there are also numerous examples of distinctive churches, town halls and examples of rural industry, which were all at one time pivotal for their community but are now at a point where they need major financial input to secure their future. 

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Restoration was launched in 2003 and captured the public imagination, with 2.3 million votes raising nearly £500k towards the restoration of the Victoria Baths in Manchester. Many of the projects featured in the two series also benefited from a raised profile. Viewers can find more information and photos on all this years’ villages and properties at www.bbc.co.uk/restoration. For further information, please contact:

Hilda McLean, BBC Press Office - 0141 338 2338 / hilda.mclean@bbc.co.uk

Katie Nicholls, Head of Entertainment Publicity, Endemol UK – 0208 222 4148 / Katie.nicholls@endemoluk.com

Rae Langford, Entertainment Publicist, Endemol UK – 0208 222 4176 / rae.Langford@endemoluk.com

The award-winning Weald & Downland Open Air Museum has over 45 historic building exhibits and is designated by the Government for the outstanding importance of its collections. Exhibits include a medieval farmstead; a working watermill producing wholemeal stoneground flour; exhibitions focusing on traditional building techniques and agriculture; historic gardens, farm livestock and a working Tudor kitchen. The Museum runs a well-established programme of courses in building conservation and rural crafts.  There is a café which uses the Museum’s own flour and a shop with gifts and books on countryside and buildings themes.  The modern Downland Gridshell houses the Museum’s building conservation centre and artefact collection. There is a daily tour at 1.30pm when the Museum is open, and an appointments system for visits to the collections for research purposes.

NOTE TO EDITORS

Reporters and photographers are welcome at the Museum. For further information call the Museum information line on 01243 811348 or contact Cathy Clark, Marketing Officer

Tel: 01243 811014.
Fax: 01243 811475
Email: marketing@wealddown.co.uk.

Full details about the Museum and its activities can be found at www.wealddown.co.uk 

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