A new museum dedicated to the “secret listeners” who uncovered enemy secrets from German prisoners of war has appointed its first director.
The Trent Park Museum Trust has announced Giuseppe Albano as director of Trent Park House of Secrets, which is due to open in Enfield, London, in spring next year.
The museum will explore the history of Trent Park House during the second world war, when it served as a surveillance centre for senior German prisoners of war.
The high-ranking prisoners were encouraged to relax and let their guard down while secret listeners in the basement eavesdropped on their conversations via listening devices planted around the house and gardens. The intelligence they gathered led to some of the most important breakthroughs of world war two.
Prior to the second world war, the country mansion was home to the politician and aristocrat Philip Sassoon, second cousin of the first world war poet Siegfried Sasson, and played host to some of the most influential statespeople, journalists, royalty and politicians of the 1930s.
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It will open in spring 2026 as a visitor attraction featuring restored and furnished rooms.
Trent Park House is recognised by Historic England as being of national and international significance on a level with Buckinghamshire’s Bletchley Park.
Albano is a museum director with more than 14 years’ experience running museums and cultural heritage sites. He was the director of the Freud Museum London from 2022 to 2025, and previously served as curator and director of the Keats-Shelley House in Rome.
Albano will be responsible to the board of trustees and accountable for the opening and overall operation of the museum as it is transformed into a “major UK visitor destination”. He will join Trent Park House of Secrets in June 2025.
Albano said: “Trent Park House has heard (and overheard) a lot of stories in its time. As someone who’s always been passionate about historic houses and the tales they have to tell, I’m honoured to be taking on this role and look forward to opening Trent Park House as a museum and sharing its extraordinary history with everyone.”
David Cholmondeley, the 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley, and Jason Charalambous, co-chairs of Trent Park Museum Trust said: “We are delighted to welcome Giuseppe as our first director, an accomplished heritage leader and most recently director of the Freud Museum in London, who brings a wealth of experience to the role, together with tremendous passion and enthusiasm for the tasks ahead.”