architect problems - original features

[siftingflour]

Please help me.
I have an 1840 house which is very lovely. I am having a modern extension downstairs but preserving the upstairs and making it structurally sound.
I went into the living room recently and the builders had removed all the original ceiling roses and the coving. The ceiling roses had been there for nearly two hundred years. If I want to replace these with copies it will cost me nearly 3000 pounds EACH.
When I asked why the builder said something like they'd fallen down when they'd touched them and the architect said we told you that they might fall down when we did the ceilings (I don't actually remember them saying this).
I've taken this at face value but today I rang up the builder to double check. I asked him what happened to the roses and he said when they touched them they started to crumble.
I asked why he didn't stop there and then and ask me what to do. Why didn't he call me up or the architect to see if I'd want to proceed. The answer would have been no, I would not want to proceed as I love the original features of my house.
He said that normally they would do but they never received any instruction from the architect to preserve any feature in the house so they went ahead.
Who is responsible and how do I prove this?
I feel they should pay for the replacement.

It does sound very ridiculous that they'd just go ripping banisters, fireplaces or ceiling roses out.

However, what's in your contract, specification and on drawings? Those would be the legally binding bits. If the features aren't mentioned and things like banister replacement are on there, then it would make sense that they're ripping things out.

However, as horrible as it is to lose the original features, replacement ceiling roses and cornicing doesn't cost 3k a piece. We went ceiling rose and cornicing crazy (in a house that had none) and I'm not sure that we spent 3k in total. If I remember correctly, even the largest ceiling roses were under £200 to buy each.

It might cost £3k if OP wants a mould made to create an exact replica of the other roses in the house rather than just buying an available design which as you say are about £200 but wont be the same as what was ripped out.

Sounds like the architect screwed up, they have a professional responsibility to you, not just a contractual one. So it's not just about what's in the contract whether verbal or written.
I would say there's a strong chance it's in a verbal contract but of course it's harder to argue after the fact.
We got an architect who did a great job of understanding our brief and writing a water tight spec. So it was clear that it was down to t builder when things were ignored.
Protecting important features is such a big standard basic clause for an architect they should have put it in almost by default.
Ours had loads of catch all clauses for protecting things, plus specific things for radiators that weren't moving.
I think you need to be firm with the architect, and I think consider stopping work, but you could be liable for costs of stopping work unnecessarily.

Ps really sorry this has happened. Building work is stressful as it is without that.