Returning majesty to period property

Restoring listed properties dating from as early as the 15th century is the focus of a new BBC TV series starting this week.

Restored to Glory follows the ambitious attempts of proud homeowners to return dilapidated and neglected properties to a more majestic state.

Restoration budgets range from £25,000, for a 19th century cottage in Cornwall, to £500,000 for 1580-built Biddulph Old Hall in Staffordshire.

And restoration timetables range from a realistic year by year game plan to a stressful six month turn around.

Presented by Charlie Luxton, the programme sees the homeowners' plans come under the watchful eye of a panel of experts fighting for authenticity and accuracy at every stage.

These include Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings' scholar and conservation architect, Jo Hibbert, the founder of repair and conservation firm St Blaise Ltd, Ian Constantinides, English Heritage buildings inspector John Yates, and home renovation expert Sally Bevan.

The eight-part series features seven properties, whose history is traced via wills, deeds, maps and previous owners.

The programme also takes a look at the history of the era alongside the history of the each property to examine the influences on building styles and designs.

The series is accompanied by a book, written by presenter Charlie Luxton and expert Sally Bevan, which provides information for first-time restorers, including essays on Elizabethan style and Gothic Revival.

Restored to Glory begins on Thursday, BBC2, 20:00. For details of the rest of this week's property TV see aboutproperty.co.uk's weekly Homes on TV guide.

Properties featured in Restored to Glory

Biddulph Old Hall
Built in 1580 with additions in 1650 and in the 19th century, Biddulph Old Hall, Biddulph, Staffordshire was purchased by Nigel Daly and Brian Vowels for £537,000. The programme follows phase one of their restoration project, which involves restoring the Great Hall, the Staircase Hall and the Hunting Tower.

Essex timber house
Middi and Susan De Luca bought this property dating from the early to mid 15th century for £200,000 and have a restoration budget of £30,000. They have given themselves ten months to completely restore the exterior of the building, including new doors and windows; to fit central heating; to redo the kitchen and bathroom floors and to plaster the interior walls.

Lancashire farm house
Les and Val Thomas intend to strip their 17th century farm house back to the bare bones before restoring it on a budget of £150,000. They paid £520,000 for the property.

Alloa
Mike and Mandy Watson bought their 19th century house in Alloa, Scotland, for only £95,000 but now plan to spend between £100,000 and £150,000 on renovating it. This includes re-roofing and re-pointing to make the house watertight and knocking down an extension. It also involves redecorating the kitchen, dinning room and billiard room.

Par cottage
For £25,000 Leslie Cornell and Dee Wadham want to fully restore their 19th century cottage in the village of Par, Cornwall. Bought for £118,000 they want to remove the 1970's porch and bathroom extensions and unusually, put a former railway brake van into the garden as an office.

Surrey mansion
Dr Barbara Salvage has a budget of £500,000 to fully restore her Surrey mansion so her and her daughters can move in before the autumn school term starts. She paid £900,000 for the house that was built in 1863.

Wales
Gervase and Mary Jane Webb want to move out of their caravan and into their property within six months of starting to renovate it. Attention on the house, which was re-built in 1851 and could date back to the 17th century, will focus on the exterior, upstairs bedrooms, and sitting room. The couple bought the land and buildings for £210,000 and have given themselves a restoration budget of £35,000.