School of Physics, Engineering and Technology
Heritage Acoustics
This ongoing work looks to develop a better understanding and preservation of our heritage by considering the acoustic properties of specific sites and landscapes. The audio/acoustic preservation of these heritage sites is just as important as any other more tangible property, as all such aspects are subject to, and will be affected by, the inherent nature of change in the span of a site’s own particular history.
Considering such acoustic characteristics better enables us to develop a more complete understanding of the past, for despite the many unknowns when developing models of sites that no longer exist, of inferring information from what remains are left, one thing we can be sure of is that the past was not a silent place.
We have made acoustic measurements for many sites of historic interest – see the OpenAIR project – and constructed computer models for many others including, the National Centre for Early Music, York, St. Mary’s Abbey Church, York, St Michael’s Cathedral, Coventry, and St Stephen’s Chapel, Westminster.
Members
- Damian Murphy
- Helena Daffern
- Gavin Kearney
- Jude Brereton
Website
Research