Medieval antiques from Norfolk museum to be put in giant freezer to stop woodworm eating them

Medieval antiques from a museum have been moved to a giant freezer to stop woodworm from munching their way through them.

Several pieces of furniture from Strangers' Hall Museums in Norfolk will be frozen to protect them, without having to use harmful chemicals.

The wood-eating bugs, which were found during the museum's annual deep clean, would have had a devastating impact on the antiques, causing them to crumble away completely.

Antiques from the museum's medieval merchant houses collection will be moved to the freezer in Gressenhall.

These include two large chairs and the chaise longue from the great chamber, the table and chair from the parlour, three chairs and a stool from the Victorian parlour and one chair from the Victorian dining room.

Bethan Holdridge, from the Norfolk Museums Service, said: "This year, as a result of the deep clean, we identified evidence of suspected woodworm and acted on this according to the guidance of our conservation team.

"This meant the removing of the items to Gressenhall for freezing to nip any latent problems in the bud.

"We will, of course, continue to monitor the situation through our regular programme of pest management so should anything flare up, we can act quickly."

Ms Holdridge added: "Owing to the nature of historic collections and buildings we will never be able to fully eradicate the presence of woodworm but activities like the deep clean allow us to take precautions and act in a preventative way ensuring the preservation of the collections."

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