Ever since the Wood Committee was established in 1975, the need for a set of preservation principles has been a continuous theme in the Committee’s deliberations and activities.
The history of the current document is as follows:
1.
Based on the following three documents, the possible contents of the Wood Committee “Principles” were first discussed during the Committee meeting in Kathmandu, Nepal in November 1992. :
• Bernard Feilden: A Possible Ethic for the Conservation of Timber Structures. (In: F.W.B. Charles: Conservation of Timber Buildings. London: Hutchinson. 1984; pp.238-241.)
• A. Michael Mennim: Guidelines for the Conservation of Timber Structures. (In: Association for Studies in the Conservation of Historic Buildings Transactions. Volume XIII, 1988.)
• Martin Weaver: Corrections / suggestions for the amendment of Mr. Mennim's proposal. October 1988.
2.
The 1st draft of the Principles was presented and discussed at the Committee meeting and 9th international symposium in Himeji, Japan, March 1994
3.
Based on the resolutions adopted by the Wood Committee during its meeting in Himeji. Japan, 11 - 12 March 1994, and comments from Wood Committee members and other experts submitted after the 1994 Wood Committee meeting, the 2nd draft (dated May 1994) was distributed to the Wood Committee members in February 1995 inviting comments.
4.
Based on these comments, the 3rd draft (dated November 1995) was prepared and discussed during the Committee’s 10th international symposium in the UK in April 1996 and during the Committee meeting in Sofia, Bulgaria, in October 1996.
5.
In August 1996, Dr. Jukka Jokilehto of ICCROM contributed a significantly improved version for the Principles. His proposals, together with the comments from the 10th international symposium, the Sofia meeting and other proposals from the Wood Committee members, were included in the 4th draft (dated October 1996).
6.
The 4th draft was distributed to the Committee members in March 1996. The final version includes the comments of the members.
