Scots Restoration entrants chosen

The BBC Two programme will return to television screens later this month.

Restoration Village has announced 21 buildings in the UK which will be up for the public vote to secure funding.

The Scottish buildings which have been selected are Cromarty East Church, Dennis Head Old Beacon in Orkney and Greenlaw Town Hall in Berwickshire.

The new incarnation of the series presented by Griff Rhys Jones will focus on rural life and on buildings which have been historically important to a local rural community.

The Dennis Head lighthouse on North Ronaldsay was built in the 1780s and is the oldest surviving purpose-built lighthouse in Scotland.

The Grade A listed building was abandoned in 1809 and is currently unsafe.

William Muir, chair of the North Ronaldsay Trust, said: "Dennis Head is an important landmark for North Ronaldsay and for Scotland.

"If it could be developed and maintained for future generations, it would literally be a lifeline for this community."

The Greenlaw Town Hall was constructed in 1829 and has been a courthouse, county offices, WWII military billet and, briefly, a swimming pool.

Local people are keen for its restoration to combine commercial and community usage.

Matthew Gibb, chair of the Friends of Greenlaw, said: We believe Greenlaw is the most architecturally important at-risk building in the country and through Restoration Village we hope to show this to the rest of the nation."

The Cromarty East Church on the Black Isle dates from the late 16th or early 17th Century and has a Category A listing.

During the restoration process, young people will be given training in traditional building techniques and the building will be used for concerts and educational activities, as well as worship.

Victoria Collison-Owen, director of the Scottish Redundant Churches Fund, said: "The Cromarty East Church is of exceptional importance in architectural terms.

"Even more than that, it reflects the fortunes of the society it has served over the centuries and is rich in the history of Cromarty and its people."