Work starts on 600-year-old Suffolk deathwatch beetle tomb

A 600-year-old tomb carved in memory of a Suffolk earl and his family is being taken apart by specialist conservators to be treated for a beetle infestation.

The tomb of Michael de la Pole, the 2nd Earl of Suffolk, and his wife Katherine was constructed in about 1410 and is in St Andrew's Church, in Wingfield.

To save money at the time, the effigies were not made of stone but carved in wood and plastered to look like stone.

Work will start on Monday to rectify the wood damage done by the beetles.

A teams of conservators from Cambridge will undertake the work, which is expected to last about three weeks.

This will involve disassembling the tomb to treat the infestation and then preserving it.

The experts have been brought in from Grantham-based company Skillingtons, which specialises in the conservation of buildings, sculpture and traditional plasterwork.

Deathwatch beetles are serious wood-boring pests and their tunnelling can cause major damage, the Wildlife Trust says.

They are "famed for their tapping in the middle of the night, supposedly heralding tragedy".

The restoration of the Suffolk tomb has been made possible thanks to a grant of £10,000 from the Church Buildings Council, which St Andrew's Church said was "in recognition of the national importance of the monument".

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