Telling a Normal Spider Sighting From a Building-Up Problem in Lewisham
Basement storage in Lewisham town centre's Victorian terraces
The Victorian terraces around Lewisham town centre often have a basement or cellar kept purely for storage, cold and largely undisturbed most of the year, and that combination gives spiders a steady supply of insects with nothing clearing their webs away between visits. It's the year-on-year build-up that marks out a real problem, not any one sighting.
Cluttered ground-floor rooms in Catford's older housing
Catford's older terraced housing shows the same pattern in ground-floor rooms that don't get used much, especially where stored boxes and general clutter give spiders plenty of shelter between hunting trips. Numbers here tend to track wherever there's already another insect problem worth looking into.
Signs to Look For
- Cobwebs building up in corners, cellars or rarely used rooms
- Spiders seen more often in autumn as they move indoors to breed
- Egg sacs tucked into skirting boards, window frames or storage boxes
- More activity in cold, undisturbed spaces — sheds, garages, cellars
Keeping Numbers From Building Up Again
Clearing webs and egg sacs as you go, and cutting down clutter in cellars and ground-floor rooms, keeps numbers from creeping back up between visits.
