Buildings. Who Cares? - ACE152.7

The Binham village church. The vicar, Reverend Godfrey Farnworth, talks about some twentieth century features in the eleventh century building, particularly the heaters which had to be made retractable so that they did not obscure sight of unique carvings, etc. Reverend Farnworth shows a screen in which the original decorations of saints had been painted over with Bible texts during the Commonwealth period, and which are now becoming visible again. He also points to the problems of the West Window. Commentary explains that the West Window as bricked up in 1809 as the brickwork was too decayed to be safe. It would be possible to put in a new copy of the original (pictures of it exist), but the bricked-up façade is itself now an historical feature. Voices of local people over give their opinions on what should be done. The vicar is in favour of replacing it. Donald Insall suggests that the degree to which things can be conserved or preserved may depend on their scale and complexity. A single stone or similar monument can be protected; preserving a village comes up against the issue of people and their community; at city level, things like land values come into play as well. The Rows. Film continues under credits.