Restoration Man: Abandoned Church (Before and After) | History Documentary | Reel Truth History

[Music] across Britain thousands of historic buildings have been neglected they're honest struggling to restore them because of planning restrictions design problems or lack of money luckily some warm antics do take on the challenge of converting in the story these forgotten Jets [Music] but it isn't for the faint-hearted gotta be slightly crazy it's that here and it's falling apart we have to find a way if Garen is done but if we don't don't we lose everything they're often churches mills and bombs but also factories warehouses and industrial buildings that are often abandoned because they're so difficult for residential conversion these buildings have as much rich history and tell as many fascinating stories about our past as any stately home or medieval castle these are palaces of industry and various types of privilege to live in one as an architect I relished the challenge that these unusual buildings give us when we're trying to create a place called Hall this time I'm meeting a couple who want to build a new life together by restoring a church they fall for a bargain we're working late ends work long days they hope this restoration will bring them closer together but with difficult access and spiraling costs were ultimately tear them apart [Music] nestled on the coast of Devon is one of England's most celebrated and scenic fishing towns Brixham was once a thriving port building community with a fleet of trawlers that revolutionized the fishing industry in the 19th century the fishing fleet remains as tudyk waned colorful houses and hidden amongst them sits st. Peter's Church built specially for the Brixham fishing community in 1874 there was deconsecrated hundred years later with property prices high in this picture postcard town Neal Worrell and Jackie Robinson have bought half the church for a Cooktown price of one hundred thousand pounds they've gone 50/50 on the cost and they plan to transform it into a holiday home it's almost like the church is looking down at unison oh yeah you know affects the volume means it's like a Cinderella property really hope you know half the church has already been converted into flats and it's a difficult building to access in the last 20 years since the church was closed its our two previous owners the last owner failed to convert it into a living space what we agreed was that there would be charge of structural stuff all the technical stuff and I would do all the nice bits Neil is not a Tate who trained at the Royal College of Art and Jackie runs her own HR consultancy business we've been together what four years but we're both quite independent and lead quite independent lies they currently live apart Jackie and London and Neil in Hartford Sherman and having both been married before they hope that by restoring the church that will bring them together it's a positive love let's reverse and we want to do it together and enjoy it we bought it on Valentine's Day we'd like to finish up yeah that's the idea of parting Valentine's Day I've come to help and advise them as they began their restoration journey good morning this is it yes when someone says you're going to see a church you think it's gonna be some kind of big grand prominent building cracks here and there the coping stones ago in the coverings or the slate but with a bit of persuasion we serve she's absolutely fantastic shotgun side never look as half the church has already been converted what's left is by far the most challenging part to restore this includes the chancel where the choir would have sat and half the nave which currently forms the basement access is on the side of the building leaving the tool space of 2,000 square feet to the previous owners this unusual combination of chancel and nave has so far proved impossible to convert but with Neil's architectural expertise and Jackie's heart set on the project they think they can succeed where others have failed as beautiful got a fantastic wreath paneling which is really elegant and all these lovely details with the stone arches and cornice thing that's really beautiful actually the church is gothic revival a style that swept across Britain during the Victorian era and hark back to our god-fearing medieval past new architectural movements brought differing styles over the centuries poop of the Church of England came to reassert its authority against other faiths churches were once again embellished with more austere gothic features st. Peter's is no exception although more modestly with its pointed windows decorative Boutrous and stone arches but sadly because of its difficult location it's been left to the sea air and moisture and this is what I call cottage cheese right this has been timber upstairs the church is full of transcending light but down below in the basement it's a different story altogether because of the positioning of the church and the steepness of the hill and half of it is underground with no natural light that just doesn't feel like a chair it is the Crypt jaws but actually this is actually half of the body the church don't you get natural London well before we bought it we put in the planning operation we got permission for a couple of tea skylines yes that is the biggest biggest biggest challenge really yeah that's how'd you get natural light under these very dark subterranean space so just how are they gone about designing this subterranean dungeon but can they design nails vision for the church has three separate elements and he wants to convert the basement into three bedrooms and the master bedroom all with Suites this also a guest lounge divided by a slim diagonal corridor the both the master bedroom would be the main living area and kitchen and above this an amazing level in the vaulted ceiling male has decided to try and harness the main source of light from the church windows by creating a point with an oval balcony looking down into the basements which just happens to be their bedroom it's a great way of getting light downstairs but I'm worried the privacy basin it's one of those things that if you've got friends absolutely you're gonna have no privacy whatsoever so all comes down to how you live I can see why Neil wants to bring natural light into the basement because it needs it but there is another way of solving the problem you can get round even a glass for it if you just want to get the light and you can put a solid structural glass for people can still walk over the top of it just uh get all the natural light in and you maintain your levels of privacy I think what we have been very mindful about as well as it generally lives is expensive isn't it this is the architectural wonder of this building this is the space to celebrate and love so if that's where you need to spend a bit more money spend it you've got a spending another issue I'm worried about downstairs is their use of a slim diagonal toradol that could stay the rooms but I've got light there about how this can be changed to create more light and the illusion of more space you've got potential put another bedroom that natural light in from the side and then you do a bigger bedroom back here and then what you're doing is you're losing your corridor that's a big step you're losing this room if you like the kids has an architect it's great that Neil is open to my suggestions to his design but they face two major challenges male and Jackie are managing the bills remotely and their budget is only a hundred thousand pounds for an ambitious project like this I don't think it's enough your biggest biggest problem is your budget yeah how much juice in there but Jimmy then I always said that everything costs a thousand times but there are a thousand things [Laughter] it's my belief that you can build two reasonable budgets if you have control over it and if you don't go to the top and if you manage it properly it's quite scary for me what he says about cost you know I don't take that long I have to say that Neil and Jackie are unbelievably brave for even thinking about taking on this project they've got everything stacked against them they've got neighbors above them alongside them neighbors all around them site accesses unbelievably difficult and the budget I just don't know how they're gonna do this for the money they've got this is one of the most difficult restoration projects I've ever seen Neil and Jackie have been together for four years and now they've decided to take on a challenging restoration project endeavour and the pattern will cement the relationship to be close to the bills combination for 12 months already an added expense for Jacqueline's budget today the building inspector is visiting site to sign off Leo's plans which needs to happen before any major structural to begin we looked at the roof they've taken away the ceilings a lot of the valley gutters are rotten and those will obviously need to be repaired replaced all these types of hidden problems can be exposed once the the build starts properly further checks on the roof confirm their worst fears about the dam they will affect the budget yeah because what office have to you know potentially replace the whole roof rather than just work restate it would have to do the whole refresh but with the green light from Building Control architect Neil is excited to get going and it's never short of new ideas maybe you could have three columns at the end of the building [Music] they can also start sunglasses the hundred-year-old plaster which will expose the original gothic features and the Raven started erecting the internal steel frames two months later and with the belt and full floor I'm keen to find out how Neil and Jackie have been getting on very good so steel frames all in the little Dax you're not listening floor decks aren't even what all the Sun blasting does not look at last yeah that looks really smart and clean and restore mode doesn't it yeah so how much of you I should have been here in terms of time well we've just had a two-week stint here and we've been coordinating the sort of final stripper stage and the next phase of the work sorry so we've been on and off you're starting to feel a little bit stretched no no I think I think so far we're keeping up with that actually I have to admit and I think I keep on saying Jackie it's gonna get easier and I was the project manager and come on she's doing very well I'm particularly interested to see the basement and whether or not they've taken my advice on losing the diagonal corridor we discussed in my first visits oh my word what an amazing change that's incredible you've brought got all this out so this is gonna be the new position for the bedrooms because we flipped it on me I had completely flipped it room yeah if it you little window start to break through there yeah it's a little inscription at that this is the old church window into the nave George which is where we're standing now and we found this memorial plaque it says and in affectionate remembrance of Charles Robinson vicar of st. John's Torquay to whose priestly love for the toilers of the sea this chapel mainly owes its existence and who sympathy and prayers greatly helped to carry the Gospel message to the fishermen of brixon because this building's been converted with the flats above and all these windows have been kind of chopped in half and carved up and everything's been covered over got to forget that that stuff's their sister the lovely thing about the fishermen is wrong I mean that's that's why this is here Neal tools will taken on board my other idea to fit the glass floor in the main living room letting even more light downstairs but given the master bedroom the privacy it needs he'll need to order for giant pains of toughened glass but not before we've worked out the design definitely frosted they're definitely frosted on that triangle definitely clear in the middle but but a light they're graded a frosting the icing on the cake with light being such an important part of this project Neal has also designed a large roof light that double top is a balcony this is male Sky Lounge up there I've been given the honor [Music] let there be light and there was easy does it this is the first time since the church was built that anyone has stood this high in the building [Music] oh look at that you can see for miles that is fantastic yes Jin I actually feel really honored and privileged [Music] brilliant hello Christine so what Neil and Jackie you've made the most fantastic stars such a brilliant amount of progress in just eight weeks but problems with the roof are causing them delays they've got a massive amount of work still to do it's a big hill to climb [Music] [Applause] [Music] the dockside and the transmission before we set sail to find out the fishermen themselves back in the day they were extremely superstitious about some things like small change so I'm going to do you any good this is what they used to do toss it in the sea this was a regular practice for the fishermen who saw it as a good fortune tool to Neptune god of the sea for their safe passage and before we cast off by two after all there's some good stuff there George you could do it [Music] we set sail on pilgrim an original Brixham trawler built in 1885 when there were 300 of these ships employing more than 1,600 seamen and an average of 150 tons of fish a week they perfected a new method of fishing with no of the vessels capable of towing the heavy trawl nets in all conditions and lights they that's one of the most dangerous jobs in the world so why did these men need a church and how did st. Peters come to be people were being killed boats were not coming back every year there would be a boat or two that would not come back families would be orphaned if you don't earn you don't get paid there was no Social Security the widows and the orphans had to be looked after they were born expecting nothing else they were on their own on the wide waters under God it wasn't surprised in these were God fearing men as Tom can testify the ocean can be a deadly and horrific place I can remember at one time just literally lyin at the bottom of compounding my steps in a serious storm in the North Atlantic with 40-foot waves breaking over the boat and thinking to myself I remembered the Manx fisherman's hymn which ends in two lines it says send us thy help remember Galilee and I found myself repeating that I don't know if I believe or not but out there it's like at war isn't it they say there are no atheists in a storm at sea or on the battlefield believing in something of a higher plan gave the fisherman a sense of security but it was one fateful night in 1866 who saw the seeds for the birth of the church the massive storm ripped through Brixham harbor with gut-wrenching consequences when the gale finally came that everybody knew must come someday it absolutely hammered the place there's an account actually on the next page here George yeah we can learn yeah it is considered by Siemens missionary than a hundred and fifty persons and upwards perished during that Gale a frightening his most massive isn't it from one little community in that tiny area really and that says he had the British a man looketh fishwives did a noble act in the height of the gale when the cries of drowning men were mingled with the howling of the wind that brought out their mattresses and bedding and made a fire on the key to indicate to shipwrecked sailors at the entrance to the harbor although hundreds of lives have been lost fishing without bricks ins will host exports the community was came to support the fishermen and in 1874 they burst 300 pounds to build us a new church st. Peters was an economical function is the record like much-needed spiritual and possible okay to Brixham spearfisherman just incredible actually understanding that a tragic story that the history behind Brixham and fishing really just means that our humble little tiny church up on the hill and so much to everybody with the summer months over it's a race against time to finish the roof bad news is it's gonna cost me land jackie an extra twenty thousand pounds which means that budget is already running 20 percent over and while the tide access is making it difficult to get building supplies in its proven even more arduous to get the waste out Jackie's been banned from the local waste disposal because she's been taking all this rubbish with so much of the old roof to get rid of and no outside space Jackie's helping her neighbors by supplying them with fireworks I'm just doing the daily would run it's nice to know the what's a good youth it's just a bit of a hike up the hill it's really difficult because the roads are so narrow is expensive to get rid of rubbish as well so we're trying to reuse what we can progress is slow as this church refuses to surrender to mainland Jackie's will costs on running a combination of spiraling as they need to spend more time on the build and as the autumn rains arrive that's beginning to dawn on Jackie just how tough this restaurant really is I do a hard day on the spice and then Montana the washing and all the domestic bits as well we're working weekends working long days it is that without its challenges for sure Brooke was delayed because of the planning and that meant we couldn't start to September we're now into October and they work weathers coming in hit us with a vengeance we've have trouble keeping the water out this week we've had seven downpours Jackies storm back to London it's a bit upset having spent the whole summer and autumn working at full throttle things are now taken their toll away from Brixham Jackie's able to take a more objective view on the whole project I thought you know the best thing for me to do was just to come back to London we're over budget and Neil might say that we're what we are overdue we have actually spent quite a chunk of money on accommodation and travel we never budgeted to do the church roof completely just a sheer volume of of things that need to be done you realise that kind of physically your mind is willing but your kind of body gets a bit tired sometimes this restoration was meant to bring Neal and Jacky closer together but now it's in danger of pulling them apart they're still only halfway through the build and now 20,000 pounds of the budget with serious concerns about how they're going to finish the project but nailers fortune on with the structural work and the whole that his belief in the church would be Jackie back on site with Neil toughing it out with the church and Jackie Spade left final five nails had to make some big decisions and it's given you some time to reflect on this situation I don't think you can make this amount with investment without without going for it and living it and that's that's always been my my goal really I think possibly slightly less Jackie's I think it is true to say that reflects our love for each other yeah are you both gonna live here for yeah does she know that she's persuading herself with Jackie you can't push Jackie you got to lead her as a pink white hard-working all the way because you're most people would say that's in a building project is the worst thing you could do to build a relationship the cold with the wet you know with all the stresses of new China to design it and Jackie trying to organize it there are you know there are major complexities there I think it can push you to the limit actually and you've only got to go a bit further and you know you can literally be over there over the edge i I'm shocked again by how deep you have to go and how expensive it is and how complicated it is and how dirty it is and and how tough it is really I mean it is all-consuming tough hard till if their spirits I thought I'd take them to a place which will offer some inspiration Castle Combe is a glittering 19th century Gothic Revival castle awareness and it's got some fantastic features that would help Leyland Jackie decorate their own gothic Church on an over stretched budgets they used to obviously be a kind of medieval castle of ruin your left and abandoned for years and years and then in 1875 the 3rd Marquess of Bute II was one of the richest men in the world at the time commissioned William Burgess he was really one of the pioneers of Gothic Revival architecture I thought I would show you the drawing first [Music] yeah yeah it's stunning stunning yeah beautiful yeah I love these galleries and the actors in the ceiling when you get up to this level and you look at the details you actually realized that all the trickery works this is all just stencil effect you know this is very very basic stuff you know you look at the butterflies over there you look that little flower motif all stencil very quick very easy very cheap this is paid [Music] [Music] this is without a doubt one of the most ornate and decorative interiors imaginable and it's been a real inspiration for me and a jacket but if they're going to achieve the same effect they've got to use the same Victorian trickery to get something so lavish on a very affordable budget and that's a big challenge with the Devon downpours now behind them and a new year dawning they've had time to reflect on this situation having spent more time than they planned renting in Brixham Neil's finally had a chance to talk to Jackie about living together permanently in the church so things have changed a little bit we are going to move to Brixton when when the build is finished we've decided that we want to use that as a home base and so so yeah that's a big step [Music] lovely he enriches my life actually it's nails battled through to get the roof finished and now that the church has finally win the water ties they can start to think ahead to the detail the colors and finishes and Jackie's back playing her role in this all-consuming restoration oh my you've done the stars on the Sailor that's proper William Burgess stuff that you have been absolutely directly inspired by all of this work yeah it's good and you know when you look at the picture from cassock off and then you look at this you can kind of see the similarities I mean option it's our own version of it obvious saying that the things that you have to decide kind of it's at what point and you kind of do something like this and actually it's worked really well for it it's been really motivating us because you know we've had all mayhem you know going on downstairs and then you come in here and there's a guy of his lighter painting that's quite ingenious as always nail has come up with a way to improve the Stars his own tale of william Burgess to something we couldn't find any stars that we liked so we made some yeah designed them and had them cut out and now I've got a chance to make my own mark on this restoration Please Please yes yes I saw your days you put the victory the smallest amount of paint on you and just dab stronger dabs that's it the star of George the star of George the George star we don't get more egotistical than that did you just do another hundred or so so how's it been buzzer better in terms of that you know the work and the hours and the commitment you've had to put into it there's been a lot of work particularly for Neil because all roots really leaked Neil because Neal's on site all day and then you know when we're finished then it's like you know looking at designs of things sourcing it's pretty relentless though smell it it is full on we were really enjoying it but it probably is more stressful than we realize actually it's the first thing we talked about in the morning last thing from late at night it's a real passion would live for the building I'm happy yeah because it has got such a rich history that you just feel that you want to do it for all the people before you really you know what Jackie I quite like this inspired by Jackie's commitment to the church and its history I'm keen to find its link to the Brixham community of today when our fisherman's church was deconsecrated in 1977 its congregation moved hand towards its church i canta made Gordon porridge whose ancestors were in the choir that sang in Neyland Jackie's realized this is this is Harry there was great uncle to me he was a chorister he was a trawler skipper he looks like he looks tough oh yeah it's a bit of a bruising no he was yeah he was a hard man as they all were and yet very reverent hard men which maybe seem like a contradiction in terms Harry served his time as an apprentice fisherman they did seven years very very hard life getting very little money he passed he was one of the youngest to pass for his master's ticket and at 24 was when he went through the church down to central Africa he went one further to Africa to skipper a mission vessel a steamer it turns out that gold needs grid and go Harry traveled to Africa to teach to the fishermen the revolutionary methods heat so skillfully mastered as a young apprentice not only had the church supported him as a fisherman and bricks them but had given him the opportunity to embark on an adventure that he could have only imagined in his Wallace dreams and just reminds me of that fantastic saying of getting give a man a fish and you can feed him for a day but if you teach him how to fish you can feed him for a lifetime that's exactly right I just never thought that our humble little simply to stretch up they would have such a global reach all of my family my own father my grandfather all of them they were all represented in that church their life and I'd like to give this this to you George to present to the new owners Neil and Jackie are going to be absolutely I hope Shirelles without Mike Antonia incredible with Neil and Jackie now fully committed to living in the church permanently when it's finished it's a massive day for the bells the glass floor separating the ground floor and basement is about to be fitted to get to this point knee of his commission with pinpoint precision for giant panels of glass that will be fitted perfectly into the voyage each pane is triple glazed heaters and toughened so that I can withstand two tons of structural weight once the glass has been laminated together it's been vacuum packed and reheated again to be placed in the jeweled church to give it a new special dimension inconceivable to attacks [Music] [Music] for the scary stuff go on come on right over to anywhere do it three terminally co-acting come on higher so far all the work done in this build is looking absolutely beautiful but Neil and Jackie have set themselves as 45 days to get it completely finished and when you look at it they've got skirting boards to do electrics to finish plumbing to do tile and decorating you name it they have set themselves a massive challenge 14 months ago this church in Brixton in Devon was Tara late and unloved built in 1874 to give spiritual and pastoral care to the fishing community who was deconsecrated 400 years later when Jackie and Neil board the church was dark damp and forgotten and previous attempts to restore his affairs they had planned to complete the build within a year and there a budget of a hundred thousand pounds but halfway through they were already twenty thousand pounds over four months of a schedule the church finally has its new roof and a new name oh my unbelievable what used to be an abandoned shell with water pouring through it it's now a magical voltage space which harks back to the Gothic Revival period when the church was first built the grading of the salient here on those colors that you weren't so harmful Denis you've really thought about getting matter of fact the new glass between the ground floor and basements has the incredible effect of floating in the space and connects the two levels together you've taken an old building and completely spun it and flipped it on its head some do you carry the other days this is mental it's just magical isn't that person it's stunningly beautiful you really kind of cozy smoke over here you've got your dining area so I mean if you're just honest you're never gonna move from that sofa you're just gonna sit there all the time looking at lassen I'm gonna do it [Music] doesn't get any better than that what used to be a decorative arsh has been looked through to create a kitchen / another glass floor hinting that the space below that nervousness of oh you're gonna step off the solid floor yeah across a clear piece of glass - then go but I never I genuinely absolutely no idea what the space was gonna look like and actually look now the tiles are amazing and we still have a view in last few let me cheat you Lily look at that that's all about places down there do the dishes is it downstairs is a special [Music] the stairs that led down to a dark damn bunker now descend to a bright Milton space [Music] the bedrooms are light and airy with space made for ensuite bathrooms [Music] the new lounge is now bathed in natural light and subtle touches serve as a gentle reminder of the important history of this church what was the Vickers study and Cole Hall has been surprisingly transformed into Baylin Jackie's very own wet room that's quite a ephemeral actually quite magical as a space but it's their bedroom where they also used to be that has the biggest transformation [Music] the line is unbelievable I mean as the sunlight is just changing through that window above the completely changes the atmosphere in the space a little bit it's incredible look at that I mean that is unbelievable by doing this it's just natural wonder [Music] from the basement up to the ceiling was originally one single space placing model state of your glass and the new floor decision when when you stood on it yeah just to get a reflection from the window that is yeah but that's all about your gothic Church art Itachi you're looking up to the heavens that's why these buildings are in the form they were and you sent me a notice thing I am looking up so there happens [Music] and as you look up you see their heavenly sky ocean setting the impacts of st. Peter's Church its beaches like this which really showed Jackie and nails commitment to the restoration so what is the total figure the tolls spent roughly I said roughly the glass and the roof and the windows probably added about probably about fifty thousand so you've spent about a hundred and seventy thousand a hundred seventeen recertified yeah contol in terms of that that overspent I'm assuming you didn't just have that money lying around I mean that's no I mean I'm just try to get a feel for how much of a commitment you've really made for birdie yeah not safe commit but you know you know as soon as the absolutely that's my life savings really that's a massive investment the Neil and Jackie their passion and belief in restoring this forgotten church has had a profound effect on them I challenge anybody to to do something like this without it actually really kind of you know impacting all aspects of of your life really surpassed our dreams [Music] [Laughter] this building has in the past been a beacon of spiritual comfort and hope to the bricks and fishermen and their families mainland Jackie's willingness to finish this restoration against all the odds make sure this church now has a place in the heart of the Brixton community once again thank you so much for coming it's brilliant welcome to Fisherman's Church what do you think bunch of pirates we're all here really to celebrate all the fantastic work that you guys have put in together with all your team and everyone else the builders and pastors and everyone over the last what's a beam like honestly fisherman's Church tells us just how important the restoration of our alternate buildings because of nailing Jackie's driving commitment to the church hopefully it's legacy never be forgotten I've got a kind of presence for you the first one the whole history of the church why it was built who built it who used it and then really document y'all in the chapter that you've made and bring this building back to work all for you and I've got another tiny little present for you just to level now this picture is unbelievably important all of this group here all of them were fishermen and I think to have this photograph hanging somewhere in the church but sure all the characters that stood in this building and sang as far as a really [Music] huge big toes when this church was first built its main purpose was to bring the local fishing community together to make relationships stronger and it seems to me that nearly a hundred and forty years later this building has done exactly the same for Neil and Jackie this started out as a very straightforward refurbishment project but it's grown into something far more powerful this has been a true restoration labor of love in a place for Neil and Jackie to spend the rest of their lives together [Music] [Music]

Channel: Banijay History

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Keywords: history, facts, interesting, documentary, history documentary, documentary history, history channel, ancient, world history, full documentary, top documentaries, documentaire, documental, documentary film, free documentary, full length documentaries, documentaries, factual, documentary full, restoration man, restoration, george clarke, restoration videos, renovation, house restoration, old house, house renovation, heritage, architects, restoring, restore, before and after

Id: fjeSqMEJwNk

Length: 46min 25sec (2785 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 14 2020