6 C O N T E X T 1 1 4 : M A Y 2 0 1 0 Suspicions confirmed From John Fidler, Simpson Gumpertz and Heger, Los Angeles I can help Chris Morris with his question about lead-eating deathwatch beetles in Lewes (Letter, p7, Context 113, March 2010).Yes, the larvae are wellknown to chew their way out of the wood and through lead sheets if in their way. I was taught this lesson in 1974 by the then surveyor of the fabric ofWinchester Cathedral, architect Corinne Bennett (néeWilson, as she was then) for whom I was working in the Sevenoaks office of Purcell Miller Tritton and Partners as a year-out architecture student. Corrine always specified sheet copper flashings and damp-proof courses on top of wall plates in the repair of beetle-decayed beam ends and roofs in general, due to this problem.The beetles did not chew their way through copper. Letters ‘THESE boards are litter and are not necessary in this age of internet access.’ A Hammersmith and Fulham resident quoted in the London Evening Standard in support of the council’s decision to ban estate agents’ For Sale signs in six conservation areas. ‘OUR JOB is to provide quality healthcare services in modern and suitable premises that are accessible to all local residents.We’re not here to look after historic buildings.’ A spokesperson for NHS Islington explaining in the Guardian why it plans to sell the pioneering modernist Finsbury Health Centre, designed by Berthold Lubetkin and built in 1938. ‘BATTERED and bedraggled as the NHS may have now become, this marvellous building remains its noble progenitor and still embodies its original promise of public service. That promise must not be betrayed.’ John Allan of Avanti Architects, who repaired part of the Finsbury Health Centre in the 1990s, arguing that it should remain in the use for which it was designed. ‘THE TWENTIETH Century Society is extremely disappointed that the DCMS has chosen to disregard English Heritage’s advice and has refused to list Slough Town Hall. Revealingly, the secretary of state was “persuaded by the evidence provided by others” – in this case a consultant working for the very council which wants to tear down its own headquarters. ‘A tragically high quantity of good buildings has been demolished in Slough in recent years, including grand art deco-styled factories by the likes of Wallis Gilbert and high-quality post-war offices. More are to come down as the town tries to erase its past and reinvent itself from scratch. Despite famously heckling Slough, John Betjeman’s praise for the town hall’s architecture as “a striving for unity out of chaos” in 1948 has never been so relevant as today.’ Comment from the Twentieth Century Society Yes, deathwatch beetles are guilty. An old photograph of the Pindar façade.TheV&A now displays it unglazed. In 1982, when I was studying on the building conservation course at the Architectural Association, I visited ChristopherWren’s gothic St Mary Aldermary in the City of London with fellow students for an exercise on the Quinquennial Inspections of Churches with the inspecting church architect Martin Caroe’s partner.We found pin holes in the 8lb lead sheets of the south aisle roof and I immediately diagnosed the problem as deathwatch beetles. The architect was incredulous, but I was insistent and bet him a bottle of champagne that I would be proved right once repairs got under way. Sure enough, the lead roofs were later repaired and the practice subsequently confirmed that the beetle larvae had created the flight holes. I never did collect on the champagne. I asked entomologist Brian Ridout about the beetles’ behaviour when we were later engaged in the European Commission’sWoodcare Research project at English Heritage (published inTimber, EH Research Transactions,Vol 4, 2001). He had not come across this himself.We set up a ‘beetle hot-line’ to encourage the public to send us samples of beetles for experimentation.This turned out to be more amusing than useful. A lady in South Africa heard about our work and rang to ask if John Lennon was still alive. John Fidler Defenestrated From Professor Malcolm Airs, Oxford It is ironic that GrahamTite’s excellent review of the new medieval and Renaissance galleries at the Victoria and Albert Museum (Context 113, March 2010) is illustrated by an old image of Sir Paul Pindar’s London house with its wonderfully evocative display of patterned glass. In its new position the façade has been effectively defenestrated. Although we can still enjoy the exuberance of the timberframing, I can’t help feeling that we have lost an essential element of its character. Malcolm Airs
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