Monica Dance (1913-98) was the first profoundly influential woman in the conservation movement which began in the 1960s (and of which our own The Sack of Bath is part). She worked at the Society for the Preservation of Ancient Buildings from 1939 to 1978 and made every effort to save Methwold Old Vicarage, Norfolk, which had become tenements for four families, each with a living room and larder and two bedrooms and a communal tap outside. In 1964 she and her husband Harry were able to buy it and set about restoring it with characteristic sensitivity. It was bequeathed to the SPAB, who approached the Landmark Trust for help. More details of the Old Vicarage here and here.