Visitors to Nothe Fort in Weymouth will be able to share the olfactory experiences of the soldiers who once manned the Victorian coastal defences, during a special event featuring historically inspired smells in early March.
Interactive demonstrations of evocative odours produced by AromaPrime (who have been creating historically accurate scents for museum exhibits and heritage attractions since the 1970s; see CA 399) will take place in the gundeck where soldiers would have slept.
‘The Science of Scents: Smells of the Fort’ will be led by AromaPrime’s Historical Scenting Consultant (and Weymouth local) Liam R Findlay, who developed the featured fragrances in consultation with the Fort’s team. This work drew on a wealth of contemporary resources including cooking instructions, records of sanitary conditions, a medical manual, and newspaper archives, as well as features of the fort itself.
The recreations include scents representing the sleeping area itself, inspired by its crowded living conditions, the air quality, the cleanliness of uniforms, and the pub-visiting habits of the soldiers. Visitors will also be able to smell coal fire smoke, drawing attention to the fireplace and lamps within the space. The fort’s diet, dominated by boiled meat and potatoes, with occasional boiled vegetables, will also feature pungently, while there will also be wafts of waste-inspired smells, offering insights into Victorian sanitary conditions and health, and partly inspired by the fact that a huge ventilation shaft was built into the Fort’s underground bathroom.
‘One of the challenges for this project was to decide which scents would provide the most value if recreated,’ Liam said. ‘Which would help transport people into the past and help them imagine they are living like the soldiers did at the time? We chose those that are not particularly fantastical, but that would best reflect the everyday lives of soldiers, and most importantly, highlight specific stories from the Fort.’
He added: ‘Of course, we cannot recreate scents with 100% accuracy, but we can use the available evidence, such as dietary information, clues in the Fort’s architecture (like the bathroom ventilation shaft!), and modern smells that I can sniff for comparison. My hope is that visitors will be able to close their eyes and put themselves in the soldiers’ shoes, as they stand in the very same room that the soldiers shared. Olfactory time travel!’
Liam will also share scents based on his novel, The Doom Town Dummies, which were also inspired the smellscape of Weymouth, to show how scents can also enhance works of fiction.
Science Weekend will run at Nothe Fort on 8-9 March, 10:30am-4:00pm, and will also feature displays by Fun Science Dorset and John the Mad Scientist. For more details, see www.nothefort.org.uk/events/science-weekend.
For more information about AromaPrime, see www.aromaprime.com.
You must be logged in to post a comment.