The scrollwork below the dragon and supporting the cardinal points had a rich stratum of previous repairs attempting to rectify extensive historic damage. Position and available resources precluded disassembly and rebuilding, which may have been ideal structurally but would also have been invasive.
Soldered collars, epoxy resin, wrapped collars and copper wire wrapping had all been used to try and hold the thin copper walls of the scrolls together. The most effective had been the wire wraps with epoxy filler, which while crude in execution were holding well. We therefore elected to follow the historical precedent and to use this technique in our repairs.
