Student Cecilia Bembibre's research on smells of heritage featured on Channel 5

SEAHA student Cecilia Bembibre’s research was featured in the first episode of Channel 5 new series Secrets of the National Trust with Alan Titchmarsh, aired on the 7th February 2017.

In a dialogue with the host, Cecilia explored the heritage significance of the well-known musty, sweet smell of decaying books. In collaboration with Knole, one of the most highly significant properties managed by the National Trust, Cecilia is researching smells that could be described as historic: old books, records, gloves, pot-pourris and even rooms as a whole. Her research is already part of the display at the property, and will be featured in “smell-walks“, an engaging exploration of the historic smells of Knole.

You can watch the episode online below.

Links

• The Knole Conservation Studio
• Watch Cecilia in Secrets of the National Trust

Cecilia Bembibre is a SEAHA alumna and was based at UCL Institute of Sustainable Heritage. Her project researched the identification and documentation of heritage smells, conducting VOC detection and analysis using solid-phase micro-extraction plus gas chromatography/mass spectrometry and gas chromatography Time of Flight Analysis (GC-TOF) with olfactometric detection (GC-O). Trained and untrained evaluation panels were also used to assess human perception of smells. 

Find out more about Cecilia's research