Bushey’s old parish church of St James’s is in dire peril from the death-watch beetle – “a very bad case,” says architect Felix Lander.
The beetles (a few of which can be seen in a small bottle in the church) have eaten away the heart of some of the main beams supporting the roof. The damage has been discovered in the nick of time, says the Rector (the Rev J.H. Humphries) but the cost will be about £2,000 and some five thousand houses in the parish have been circulated with an urgent appeal for funds.
On the front of the leaflet bearing the appeal is an excellent sketch of the church drawn by the Rector.
[From the Watford Observer of March 3, 1950]
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