The WORST episodes of The Restoration Man
Every episode of The Restoration Man ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of The Restoration Man!
George Clarke is The Restoration Man, travelling the British Isles meeting the stubborn romantics who want to breathe new life into the architectural treasures he unearths on his journey. His mission is to help them transform these undervalued gems into brand new homes fit for 21st century living.
#1 - Welsh School Revisit
Season 5 - Episode 6 - Aired 2/11/2015
George catches up with Ian and Jayne, who bought a large derelict Victorian school in the valleys of west Wales to convert into a home and a site for their new eco business
#2 - Flint Mill
Season 4 - Episode 2 - Aired 1/14/2014
Alan Appleby and his wife Dora might be restoration experts, but they've never taken on a project as ambitious as this. They've saved a flint mill in Stone, Staffordshire that's on the verge of falling down. Alan is a building surveyor, and shouldn't have a problem fixing the massive structural damage. But his passion for old buildings soon takes over and they end up ploughing everything they have into this build. George Clarke helps them every step of the way and uncovers its unique history and the link between this building and the world renowned pottery and ceramics of Josiah Wedgwood.
#3 - Fisherman's Church
Season 4 - Episode 3 - Aired 1/21/2014
Having never lived together before, architect Neil Worrell and his partner Jackie Robinson decided to cement their relationship by purchasing a forgotten church in the picture perfect fishing town of Brixham in Devon. What began as a project that would bring them closer together becomes the ultimate test as the restoration pushes them to their limits. George Clarke brings his own design expertise to the project to help them realise their dream; and at the same time discovers the rich history that links this church directly to Brixham's celebrated fishing community.
#4 - Welsh School
Season 4 - Episode 4 - Aired 1/28/2014
Recession-hit builders Ian and Jayne Hall Edwards face a massive battle converting a huge derelict Victorian school in a Welsh hillside village in Carmarthenshire into both a place of business and a home. Having failed to win a grant to help finance the build, they are left battling through harsh winters while living in a caravan on site, and with their family business hanging in the balance.
#5 - Cow Barn
Season 4 - Episode 5 - Aired 2/5/2014
Marco and Kath Walker take over a pair of Grade II listed 17th and 18th century cow barns from their local farmer in Wellington, Herefordshire. The barns are tumbling down, the couple have their two young children in tow, they've never done anything like this before and are complete restoration novices, and the project is beset with problems from the start. George offers much needed advice throughout the build and discovers how these buildings and the surrounding farm helped to revolutionise cattle farming in the UK.
#6 - RAF Bunker, Nottinghamshire
Season 4 - Episode 6 - Aired 2/12/2014
Furniture maker Jamie Brown has big ideas about turning a colossal and historic 15,000 square foot RAF bunker from World War II into his new home. However, with the Nottinghamshire bunker totally encased in earth, with no natural light, and the back section submerged in water, Jamie's wife, who is about to have their first baby, isn't so sure. With its fascinating history and jaw-dropping engineering, George helps Jamie tackle this huge undertaking and discovers the important role it played in the blitz.
#7 - Telford Church Revisit
Season 4 - Episode 7 - Aired 2/19/2014
George catches up with Keith and Sheena McIntyre who were hoping to restore an isolated Telford church Using an inheritance from his late father, artist Keith McIntyre and his wife Sheena bought a listed, Thomas Telford-designed church in the remote island of Berneray in the Outer Hebrides. Keith and Sheena plan to convert the church into a holiday home and artist's studio, where they can bring their art students and musician friends to be inspired by the amazing light and rugged, desolate landscape. In restoring this roofless ruin, Keith and Sheena face challenges from the extreme weather and have to keep the neighbours on side while managing the build 400 miles away from their home in Newcastle. Meanwhile architect George Clarke uncovers the church's turbulent history.
#8 - Thrum Water Mill Revist
Season 4 - Episode 8 - Aired 2/26/2014
George returns to Thrum Mill to meet Dave and Margaret Heldey who have battled through flooding and serious illness to restore one of Northumberland's most stunning but abandoned water mills
#9 - Shropshire Farmhouse
Season 5 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/7/2015
First of New Series. Architect George Clarke returns with more projects to transform neglected historic buildings into unique homes. Russell Edwards and Nadia Smith have put everything into turning a derelict farmhouse in the Shropshire countryside into a family home. They are determined to restore the 18th-century building to its former glory, but their high standards soon cost them dearly, and after two winters in a caravan, illness and exhaustion threaten to overwhelm the pair. George helps with the design and hard graft and investigates the history behind this mysterious half-timber-framed building.
#10 - Tudor Revival School, Essex
Season 5 - Episode 2 - Aired 1/14/2015
George Clarke meets Jim and Bee Goody, who have taken a financial gamble with their project to turn a derelict Tudor revival school in Essex into their dream country home.
#11 - HMS Owl
Season 5 - Episode 3 - Aired 1/21/2015
Justin and Charlotte have a dramatic vision for transforming a derelict World War II airfield tower in the Scottish Highlands. But just fixing the windows takes nearly half the budget.
#12 - Pannal Water Tower
Season 5 - Episode 4 - Aired 1/28/2015
Yorkshire couple Carol and Majid embark on an ambitious adventure, transforming a brick water tower into a five-storey home. But unexpected costs and legal problems hit the project.
#13 - Longhurst Lodge Revisit
Season 5 - Episode 5 - Aired 2/4/2015
George catches up with Nik and Vanessa and their immaculate 19th century gatehouse cottage that was so tiny they couldn't fit a proper bathroom inside
#14 - Pumping Station
Season 4 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/7/2014
The new series begins with Alison and Matthew Grey, two designers form London looking for a new place to live out of town. The couple love industrial buildings and have purchased a pumping station, intent on turning it into a design haven. But with costs mounting, as they continue to delay decision making, the couple are in danger of having to refinance in order to finish the build.
#15 - Edwardian Baptist Church, Oxenhope
Season 6 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/7/2016
George Clarke join Colin and Emma who buy a Edwardian Baptist Church in Oxenhope and want to turn it into a five-bedroom family home with a meagre budget.
#16 - Victorian Railway Station, Northumberland
Season 6 - Episode 2 - Aired 1/14/2016
George joins Lee Head, who is attempting to convert a Victorian railway station in Northumberland into his family home.
#17 - Georgian Gazebo Tower, Pembrokeshire
Season 6 - Episode 3 - Aired 1/21/2016
George Clarke is in Pembrokeshire to help restore a Georgian Gazebo Tower and make it a livable property.
#18 - Sunday School, Harrogate
Season 6 - Episode 4 - Aired 1/28/2016
George Clarke helps a couple in Harrogate convert two crumbling church buildings into a pair of beautiful homes.
#19 - Harrogate Revisit 2016
Season 6 - Episode 5 - Aired 3/31/2016
George Clarke returns to Harrogate to see how Carol and Majid Nadry have finished converting their brick water tower into their dream home. After the huge delays and eye-watering legal costs of sorting planning and access restrictions, the couple have finally built the two-storey extension that was the key to creating a family home with character. George sees how the industrial heritage of this unique building is beautifully complemented by a 21st century glass and sheet metal extension that finally realises the old water tower's hidden potential.
#20 - Berkshire Pumping Station
Season 7 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/5/2017
George Clarke returns for a new series of the show that helps rescue neglected architectural treasures across Britain. Young couple Steven Crame and Marina Bacchelli were looking for their first home to own together in Berkshire, when they found a disused water pumping station nestling in its own ancient woodland. The couple threw themselves into the task of converting the huge brick shed into a modern four-bed family home, while preserving a 15-tonne crane as a central feature of their lounge. But a new-born baby, flooding and spiralling costs add to the pressure.
#21 - Cheshire Water Tower 2017
Season 7 - Episode 2 - Aired 1/12/2017
George Clarke meets Cheshire couple Andrew Jones and Michele Gibbons, who plan to turn an 85ft art deco water tower into the six-storey 'end house' of their dreams. The conversion proves an incredible challenge for the builders, as they must cut through double reinforced concrete to build new floors and fit over 20 new windows. It takes almost a year to get the tower wind and water-tight as, meanwhile, the couple must come to terms with fact that, despite a dislike of art deco furniture, they need to furnish their towering example of architectural history in a fitting style.
#22 - Lancashire Water Filtration Plant
Season 7 - Episode 3 - Aired 1/19/2017
In Lancashire, Matt Whittle and his father-in-law-to-be Mike Readfern pool their resources to convert an enormous water filtration plant into a pair of semi-detached houses sharing an internal garden atrium. Family relations are tested as the huge scale of the project makes the schedule drag. George Clarke encourages the pair to persevere and make the most of the unique opportunity that the internal atrium gives them - to create a garden for all weathers.
#23 - Church Hall Barn 2017
Season 7 - Episode 4 - Aired 1/26/2017
George Clarke follows Jude McKelvey as she restores a dilapidated 17th-century barn into a family home to share with her two boys - a project made all the more difficult by the tight conservation restrictions on the Grade II listed building. The timber-framed structure needs months of painstaking craftsmanship and the 44,000 clay tiles must be replaced by hand. Can Jude meet the enormous challenge of dividing up the barn's cavernous interior without destroying its heritage?
#24 - Old Fisherman's Church Revisit 2017
Season 7 - Episode 5 - Aired 2/18/2017
George catches up with Neil and Jackie at their old fisherman's church in Brixham, Devon, and discovers how the restoration project changed their lives beyond recognition.
#25 - Settle Water Tower Revisit
Season 3 - Episode 6 - Aired 1/31/2013
George Clarke returns to North Yorkshire to catch up with the retired policeman and his wife who took on the challenging restoration of a railway water tower at Settle station