VISIT TO R. W. B. STARKE & SONS - 7th August 1992

The things we do for Perfumery. One day (quite a nice day, I might add) in August, thirty BSP members traipsed all the way to a remote village called Eye in Suffolk, to stand and look at a field of white flowers and watch some chap chop up these smelly flowers and boil them! What is the world coming to?

But seriously folks!

English Roman Chamomile is a perennial herb - a many branched, low growing, creeping rhizome. The flowers have a pungent apple aroma and its generic name, Chamaemelum, derived from the Greek word khamaimelon, means 'earth apple'. The medicinal properties have been known for many centuries and indeed the ancient Egyptians dedicated the herb to their gods.

It was at one time, widely cultivated for medicinal purposes and for lawns. The flower heads contain various constituents; azuline that turns blue on distillation, bitter compounds, flavonoid glycosides and choline. These have anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, antispasmodic, mild sedative, stomachic and diaphoretic properties. In herbal medicine, infusions are used for fever, dyspepsia, nausea, painful menstruation and insomnia. It also has external applications for treating ulcers and eczema.

The blue essential oil is also widely used in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industry. The sight and smell of acres of the white, almost pom-pom like daisies is incredible. The most striking aspect was the very close resemblance of the aroma of the oil to the growing flower.

The flowers are harvested in late July/beginning of August, when they are in peak condition. The Chamomile is cut and left to dry for two to three days, then collected and packed into mobile stills in the field. The stills are transported through the village of Eye to "Chestnuts Farm" where the Chamomile is hoisted from the mobile still into the distillation vessels. These are then moved into the still room, the lids fitted on tightly and distillation commences.

The Chamomile oil is collected by hand from the receivers using a ladle to spoon it off the water from the distillation process. It is then filtered and bulked into storage vessels.

R. W. B. Starke & Son pride themselves for providing a genuine and pure oil. Experience and techniques have been handed down over three generations.

We all complimented the Starkes on the quality of the oil and many of us agreed it was a favourite to use. Richard commented that he never hears the compliments, just the complaints, and was relieved to hear that his quality was the right one.

Let us hope that the Starkes successfully completed the harvest before the deluge of rain we experienced this August set in.

We then adjourned to a lovely country hotel to watch a short video of the harvesting and distillation procedure and enjoyed a buffet lunch.

Many thanks to Richard and his wife for a fascinating tour, their time, (during their busiest season) and the sample of English Chamomile oil. We hope we did not disrupt the harvest too much.