But claims that Wilshaw has "transformed" Hackney Downs are misleading: the old school had dilapidated buildings and nearly twice as high a proportion of pupils on free meals as now.
The cynosure of all eyes in Parliament during its recent foreign-affairs crisis, and the butt of most of its discontents, he looked, as he sat engulfed in his great chair of office, like someone whom history has dilapidated.
In the 21st century, the Oval has been dilapidated and has required constant repairs to fulfill Heath and Safety requirements for Glentoran to host its home matches there.
They must certainly have looked dilapidated, with their Roman monumental structures serving as quarries for rebuilding elsewhere; early medieval public buildings were, as noted, smaller and also probably fewer in number the cathedral and the local royal palace being the most important ones by far.
The cathedral clerks received it as a secular benefice but in later years it may, in common with other hospitals, have become dilapidated through a lack of patronage.
Beautiful Victorian-era mansions on the side streets had become dilapidated, and worst of all, the Macy's store that had served shoppers for 44 years was closed and vacant.
The restaurant itself has a dilapidated feel.
Government offices under construction had grown dilapidated even before they were finished.
Some of these had become dilapidated before the lottery came along.
However, unlike the famously ghost-ridden Forbidden City, which hosts droves of tourists every day, the Chaonei house has sat dilapidated and deserted for years, a quiet enclave amid Soviet-style apartment blocks and glittering modern buildings.
