The destruction of historic buildings has reached a pitch unseen since the 1960s and 1970s. This is the view of Charles Brooking, who has devoted his life to rescuing fine historic features from the skip. His unrivalled collection of architectural detail includes windows, doors, panelling, fireplaces and staircases, a whole library of authentic trim, including cornices, pictures rails, skirtings and dados. Exhibits range from Elizabethan timber-frame cottages to 1930s semis.

“In the last few weeks I have recovered amazing details from Georgian buildings which have been tragically left unlisted,” Brooking says. “A friend tipped me off about the demolition of a supposedly mid-Victorian house near Egham in Surrey. I was horrified to be confronted with a high-quality oak staircase of the 1720s, the best London quality equal to finest houses in Spitalfields, with three barley twist balusters to each tread, carved tread ends and ramped handrails.”

Two 1720s panelled rooms had already been removed by dealers. “I tried to get the building listed but was told I was too late,” he says. Last week, as the house was being demolished at full speed, he went with his joiner to rescue what he could when the workmen took a break for an hour.

“Other recent rescues have included an 1817 staircase being stripped out of a house in Soho, cornices and mouldings from a grand terrace house in Clapham and the original woodwork from a Thomas Cubitt house in Eaton Square,” Brooking says.

“Last year I was given a whole set of architectural details from a 1796 house in Kennington which a neighbour salvaged as they were being put on the skip.”

Two weeks ago he dashed to save features from an unlisted 1750s farm house near the Worcester Royal Infirmary. Other rescue missions have extended to the Savoy Hotel, now undergoing extensive refurbishment.

“I have original doors of 1889 and from 1904 alterations made in French Ritz style as well as Art Deco of 1929.”

Stylish Thirties work has been salvaged from the remodeling of Broadcasting House and last week from The Swiss Centre, “an icon of the 1960s now being demolished”.

Brooking is busiest in Surrey where he lives. “Surrey houses with wonderful Arts & Crafts detail are biting the dust week by week. I have details from Voysey's Priorsfield School near Godalming. The developers Try Homes donated items from Banstead Hospital by the great Richard Norman Shaw, architect of New Scotland Yard and Cragside in Northumberland. It was a listed building but fire damaged and derelict,” he says.

Why is the pace of destruction so bad?

The first reason is the failure to keep the lists of listed buildings up to date. In recent years English Heritage has set aside the essential task of revising the lists town by town and county by county in favour of thematic surveys, particularly of 20th-century buildings. As a result numerous remarkable buildings remain unlisted - especially vulnerable are houses in towns, where earlier interiors are concealed by later alterations and 19th-century facades.

He cites the second main reason as the continued imposition of VAT on repairs and maintenance but not on new build and alterations. “Wherever I go the old windows are being stripped out and replaced by plastic imitations. Yet the old Georgian hard wood sash windows last for centuries if properly looked after. Recently I rescued some delightful Arts & Crafts windows with the outline of a dog cut out of the metal handles”. For Modern Movement enthusiasts he has the biggest study collection of Critall windows.

Health and safety regulations are also fuelling further losses. “In the past builders would have carefully stripped off old tiles for reuse but now ladders can't be used and it has become so complicated that often they just smash the whole place up.”

The main part of his collection has been generously housed by the University of Greenwich but is not regularly open. Last week he received the thrilling news that Hadlow College near Tonbridge is ready to sign heads of lease for land on which a new museum in best greenoak can be built.

Sir William McAlpine, the chairman of Brooking's trust, says: “The collection is of vital importance for the restoration industry. It's essential to give it a permanent home, and we're seeking to raise £7 million.”

The educational value should make it a prime candidate for help from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Meanwhile, Brooking is desperately struggling to continue his emergency operations. He was able to rescue the Egham stair only because SAVE Britain's Heritage offered him an immediate £500 to hire a van and skilled joiner to go on site immediately.

— Marcus Binney is president of SAVE Britain's Heritage. Brooking urgently needs more help. Donations should go to the Brooking Architectural Museum Trust, 44 The Drive, Cranleigh GU6 7LZ (inquiries to Carol Part on 01380 816565). For information on Brooking's courses at Greenwich and Cranleigh: cbbrooking@tiscali.co.uk