A major project to save a unique medieval building complex has been launched.

Charing Parish Council has revealed its plans to buy and restore the village’s Archbishop’s Palace.

This bid follows a major effort to win a BBC cash prize in 2004 and a special website has now been set up for the new venture.

The cost of buying the complex could be up to £1.5 million and its restoration up to £6 million.

Parish council chairman Tylden Reed said: “The project will be a mammoth task but we have already proved once that we can rise to the occasion.

“The challenge we face is not only to obtain funding from external sources but also from local events.

“We will be looking to the Heritage Lottery Fund and others but also looking for a fairy godmother, a philanthropist, a person who will help us purchase the complex.”

The launch meeting at the parish hall was attended by up to 150 people including leading politicians such as Ashford MP Damian Green and Ashford Borough Council leader Paul Clokie.

The Palace had narrowly missed getting a £3.5 million prize after losing at the competition final of the BBC programme Restoration in 2004.

Mr Reed said that the parish council stepped into the breach after the Traditional Building Preservation Trust was unable to go ahead with its own plans to buy.

He said that the council immediately approached English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund to raise money and now intends to prepare a bid.

The restoration is not just to save the crumbling buildings but to provide a place for community use and education.

Mr Reed said the parish council was willing to form a trust to steer a restoration project and seek funds.

He said that the council in the next few weeks is to set up a project plan to submit to EH and HLF and other funding bodies.