Historic family beats a beetle rap

When evidence of a plague of the dreaded insects emerged at Norton Conyers, a historic medieval manor in Wath, near Ripon, it was soon feared the death would be of the very house itself.

The home has been in the family – which can trace its roots to Anglo-Saxon times – since 1624. The current occupants, Sir James and Lady Graham, have been battling the insects for years.

The infestation was first discovered in a 16th century Tudor hall table in the refectory, and was later found to have spread to the floorboards, roof, and many rooms – including an attic which was visited by Charlotte Bront in 1839 and proved the inspiration for the mad woman in Jane Eyre.

Lady Graham admitted that despite millions of pounds being spent on restoration work over the past 24 years, the infestation could have reduced the house to rubble.

Now, following a five-year battle to rid Norton Conyers of the deathwatch beetles, the couple has revealed that the future of one of Yorkshire's most historic manor homes has been secured.

Lady Graham said: "When we found the beetles it was heartbreaking. We had already spent so long restoring the house and then evidence of these beetles emerged.

"It was only when we started finding dead beetles that we realised there was a problem.

"The reason deathwatch beetles are so dangerous is that they live in the grub stage for up to 18 years.

"All this time they were eating their way across our home and we never even saw them.

"They were chomping their way through an oak Tudor hall table and we brought in to experts to see if they were elsewhere – we found out they were eating the house.

"It was the most difficult decision that we have ever had to make here, do we go through all the trauma of doing the restoration work or do we just leave it for the next generation? But we did not want to leave our legacy in the house like that."

Once they had made up their minds to battle the beetles, the couple managed to secure a "substantial" grant from the Country Houses Foundation in 2006 to begin with the work.

When the hall floorboards were hoisted up, it was discovered that the insects had been teeming underneath due to a pile of materials that had been dumped in the hole by a group of builders in 1770.

Sir James said: "We know from records that a York builder called William Bellwood and his team were doing work on Norton Conyers at the time, changing the house from four storeys to three storeys.

"It seems they just dumped all this rubbish under the floorboards and whatever deathwatch beetles were already there, had really first class breeding conditions for the next 240 years.

"We started collecting and measuring all the dead beetles that we found in the house to work out where they were particularly active in the house and the scale of the problem we were dealing with."

The couple recruited two gardeners and archaeologist Dr Steve Moorhouse to shift the infested wood from underneath the floorboards.

During this work, they found medieval pottery and a tiny fragment of earthenware believed to date back to the year 950.

When the rotten wood was cleared, the couple brought in a specialist team to spray and inject other timbers with toxic chemicals. After that, it was not possible to enter the house without special protective clothing for three days.

Sir James and Lady Graham were forced to stay in bed-and-breakfasts for several months. After coming back, they have been living in just three of the house's 48 rooms.

Earlier this year, they were told the worst of the invasion was over and celebrated with a party last month.

Lady Graham said: "There will always be beetles here but at least we know it isn't going to reduce the house to rubble any more. If we had not done anything then within the five years the floorboards would have caved in and we would have had a much greater problem. It's been very hard, but we can be happy we will be passing on something in a better condition than we received it."

The house will reopen to the public in 2012.

A devastating tapping sound

THE adult deathwatch beetle may average a little over a quarter-of-an-inch long, but its presence in wooden structures can prove devastating.

The insects primarily attack hardwoods – mainly large sections of timbers including oak and elm – although dampness is essential for severe infestations to occur.

When damp conditions are combined with fungal decay, the infestations can spread extremely rapidly.

Deathwatch beetles can live for as long as 12 years in conditions where drier timber is slowly being affected.

The adult beetles emerge from the wood between March and June each year following pupation.

The beetles' well-known "tapping" sound is a mating call frequently heard during the emergence season.