Wood Committee

About Us

The objectives of the ICOMOS-UK Wood Committee are to promote understanding, cooperation and collaboration in the field of conservation of wooden built heritage, and to advise on and develop ICOMOS-UK programmes in this field.

A holistic, interdisciplinary approach is needed in the conservation of wooden built heritage, and we try to ensure this is reflected in our committee. Members of the ICOMOS-UK wood committee, many of them leaders in their respective fields, represent a wide and varied range of cultural heritage related disciplines including architects and engineers, carpenters and wood scientists, conservators and archaeologists, archaeobotanists and dendrochronologists.

What We Do

Our aim is to spread knowledge and build relationships. The Committee has a broad outlook and hopes to achieve its objectives with a wide range of activities including: organising regular talks and holding scientific conferences, workshops and study visits; maintaining links with other organisations to promote and coordinate themed studies and research projects; establishing and maintaining links with educational institutions and training organisations to advance understanding and cooperation in the field of conservation of wooden built heritage; and the promotion of the 2017 ICOMOS Principles for the Conservation of Wooden Built Heritage. The UK wood committee also has active links with the ICOMOS International Wood Committee (IIWC). In 2018 the UK wood committee organised the IIWC’s 21st international symposium which was held over 4 days in York and titled “New Horizons in the Conservation of Wooden Built Heritage”; we welcomed more than 60 delegates from 16 different countries.

Online Talks Series and YouTube Channel

The Committee runs a series of monthly online talks and the recordings are available to watch on our YouTube Channel

Membership

The Committee hopes to bring together individuals from a broad range of backgrounds in the UK who have experience, knowledge, or a particular interest in the conservation of wooden built heritage. Membership is open to all members of ICOMOS-UK. New membership and participation is especially encouraged from students and emerging professionals.

Find our Terms of Reference in PDF format here.

Current members of the Wood Committee (July 2021)

Doug Evans – Committee Chair, Cultural heritage consultant. Expert Member, ICOMOS IWC

Tim Belden PhD – Committee Vice-Chair. Engineer, wood science and digital engineering. Assistant Professor of Digital Engineering at NMITE

Alison James – Maritime archaeologist. Senior Project Manager, MSDS Marine Ltd. Trustee, The Nautical Archaeology Society

Andrew Holloway – Conservation carpenter and timber structures specialist. Managing Director, Green Oak Carpentry Company Ltd. Co-author, ‘Green Oak in Construction’, TRADA 2007. Expert Member, ICOMOS IWC

Andrew Lawrence – Structural engineer accredited in conservation (CARE). Associate Director, Arup. Member, European Timber Structural Design Code Committee; and BSI timber committee.

Angela Middleton – Senior archaeological conservator. Historic England Fort Cumberland

Anne Crone PhD – Archaeologist and dendrochronologist. AOC Archaeology Group

Cathy Tyers – Dendrochronologist. Historic England Scientific Dating Team, Policy & Evidence

Charley Brentnall – Conservation carpenter. Director, Xylotek Advanced Timber Structures. Visiting Tutor, AA’s “Design Make” programme at Hooke Park

Coralie Mills PhD – Archaeo-dendrochronologist & historic wooded landscape specialist. Director at Dendrochronicle.co.uk. Honorary Research Fellow, University of St Andrews

Dana Challinor: Archaeobotanist, wood and charcoal specialist. Institute of Archaeology, University of Oxford.

Ed Morton – Structural engineer accredited in conservation (CARE). Director, The Morton Partnership. Conservation Engineer to York Minster, Westminster Abbey, and Canterbury, Durham, Southwark and Ely Cathedrals

Hamish Darrah – Archaeologist, wood specialist and traditional woodworker. Emerging Professional

Hugh Harrison – FSA ICON accredited timber conservator. Hugh Harrison Conservation Ltd. Expert Member, ICOMOS IWC

Iain McCaig – Architectural conservator. Consultant. Co-author, ‘Practical Building Conservation: Timber’, Historic England, 2012. Member, IHBC Technical Panel

Ian Harper – Architect. Historic England, Heritage-at-Risk Team

Ian Panter – Archaeological conservator. Head of Conservation at York Archaeological Trust

Jim Coulson – Wood scientist and timber technologist. Director, TFT Woodexperts Ltd. Member of BSI committees: B/518 Structural Timber, B/558: Sustainability of Construction Materials. Member of UK Timber Grading Cmttee. Expert Member, ICOMOS IWC

Joe Thompson – Conservation carpenter, researcher and lecturer. Owner, Sussex Oak and Iron. Carpenter-in-Residence, Weald and Downland Museum

Karen Dundas – Wall paintings conservator. Owner, Scottish Wall Paintings Conservators. ACR accredited

Maggie Henderson: Archaeologist, standing buildings specialist. Director, HB Archaeology and Conservation Ltd.

Martin Bridge PhD – FSA Dendrochronologist. Part-time Lecturer, UCL Institute of Archaeology. Associate Editor of the European Journal Dendrochronologia. Partner, Oxford Dendrochronology Laboratory

Mike Bamforth: Archaeologist, specialist in the excavation and analysis of waterlogged wood . Research Associate at University of York.

Nathan Goss – Restoration carpenter and conservation consultant. Director, Nathan Goss Conservation. Expert Member, ICOMOS IWC

Peter McCurdy – Conservation craftsman and consultant; historic timber frames reconstruction specialist. Director, McCurdy & Co. Expert Member, ICOMOS IWC

Phoebe Gresford – Architect. Lecturer, Oxford Brookes University. Expert Member, ICOMOS IWC

Robert Demaus – Consultant. Non-destructive investigations and assessment. Director, Demaus Building Diagnostics

Robert Walton – Structural engineer. Stand Consulting Engineers

Sarah Tattersall – Structural engineer accredited in conservation (CARE). The Morton Partnership.

Stuart Page – RIBA Accredited Specialist Conservation Architect. Stuart Page Architects

Tim Floyd – Conservation scientist and building surveyor. Owner, Floyd Consult Ltd. Expert Member, ICOMOS IWC

Tom Massey – Conservation carpenter. Director, Dolmen Conservation Ltd. SPAB Fellow 2014. Chair, William Morris Craft Fellowship

Vincent Reed – Historic joinery conservator and consultant. Owner, Vincent Reed Ltd. Expert Member, ICOMOS IWC