BBC revives television series to rescue rural heritage sites

Scotland's oldest surviving purpose-built lighthouse, an elaborate folly in Hampshire and a 19th century twine works in Somerset are among rural buildings around the UK selected for the next series of Restoration, BBC2's equivalent of Pop Idol for neglected public buildings.

Unveiling the 21 structures that will be profiled by presenter Griff Rhys Jones, the BBC said the third series of the popular show would aim to regenerate entire villages by focusing on buildings that were crucial to rural communities.

BBC2 controller Roly Keating said: "After a year's break, the series has come back to address a very specific need - that of Great Britain's rural communities, whose heritage is relevant to everyone but is in very grave danger of being lost amid a catalogue of problems facing the countryside and its people."

The series will feature three villages a week, with each programme focusing on a different part of the country and highlighting the diversity of rural life.

The featured structures include slate quarry buildings in Wales and the only complete Moravian settlement in Northern Ireland, as well as churches, town halls and former homes of rural industry.

Jones will be accompanied by so-called "ruin detectives" Ptolemy Dean and Marianne Suhr. Each week, viewers will nominate a winning village for the grand final in September, with the victor scooping the proceeds of telephone votes throughout the series. There will be a BBC4 companion series and roadshows in each region showcasing the crafts used in restoration.

English Heritage used the launch of the new series to underline the scale of the country's restoration problems. Its Buildings at Risk register, published yesterday, shows that more than 1,400 buildings and structures - one in 30 of the most important heritage listings - are under threat, with some at the point of collapse.