Current Projects

Asir Metra

In October 2011, Mark Winstanley and Julian Pendlebury of the Wyvern Bindery travelled to the monastery at Asir Metra to conserve a 15th century gospel which contains beautiful illustrations in the Stephanite style.

The book was in a sad state of repair; worse than initially anticipated with several of the leaves having become loose. It became apparent that the order of the leaves in the book needed to be confirmed before a full repair could be undertaken. The gospel is stored in a chest with crosses, chalices and sistra so the binders made a vellum box to protect the book until we return to finish the project. Having photographed all the pages we can now ascertain their order and prepare repair tissue, guards and the boards prior to a further trip. We intend to return soon to the site to complete the work.

The Screen at Mikael Amba

This 12th century wooden rood screen in the church on Mikael Amba is one of 2 such remaining screens in Ethiopia. The church is an important site actively used by worshippers. It is near a main road and is quite frequently visited by tourists. This rock church is divided into 3 bays which are separated from the main part of the church by the rood screen. Across one of the bays the screen has collapsed and had been partially removed. In October 2010, Colin Bowles, an eminent restorer of 3 dimensional objects, assessed the work required to make good the parts of the screen still standing.

Having planned for the restoration to be carried out in October 2011, we have had to delay the work in for logistical reasons. However the agreements are all in place to carry out the work in March 2012. We have already started to take out equipment and will be sending further shipments in the coming months. Colin Bowles has recommended that the parts of the screen that are still standing be strengthened and the morticed joints cleaned out making the structure more robust. He has also recommended that the footings are secured. All the conservation will be reversible.