A “challenging” exhibition has been installed in a Norfolk country estate to highlight the threats that books face including damp, beetles and Isil.

The Word Defiant is a series of installations throughout Blickling Estate, organised by the National Trust, revealing stories of books that have been banned, burned, redacted, drowned, neglected and superseded.

The inspiration for the installations comes from the 12,500 books in Blickling’s own library which is currently undergoing a five year conservation programme to ensure its survival after being plagued by damp and death watch beetle for some years.

As part of the six-month art project exploring the importance of books one installation symbolises the burning of books in the university library in Mosul, Iraq which was destroyed by Isis militants in 2014.

“Our underlying intention is to challenge our visitors,” Helen Bailey, general manager of the Blickling Estate told the Guardian. “To try to make them think differently about some of the things the National Trust has to do in order to look after these places for everyone.”

Also included in the exhibition is a copy of Winnie the Pooh which has been placed in a bookcase of 19th century books to highlight it being banned in China.