The Smells of Wales in the Middle Ages.

Credit: Unsplash Maksim Shutov

If we closed our eyes and concentrated on what we could smell around us right now, what would those smells be? Someone in a city flat might smell: petrol from cars below; cooking smells from neighbours or restaurants nearby; candle scents; dirty socks; damp runners; kitty litter; the washing powder in the washing machine; the peppermint smell of chewing gum and the list goes on. If you were in Wales in the Middle Ages what then might you smell? 

These days a woman might start the day smelling of antiperspirant, body lotion, shampoo and condition, sunscreen, and perfume. We might assume that we are very clean compared to people in the Middle Ages, yet they also tried to keep body odours to a minimum and to smell as nice as possible. While getting water was much harder than turning a tap, people in the Middle Ages did wash using simple soaps made of ash, fat and different herbs such as lavender or sage. Sometimes the washing was a cold dip in the river or sea but for the wealthy with servants to do the carting and heating a tub of fragrant warm water was a great way to relax after the day’s hunt! Women used oils and salves perfumed to anoint their skin as well as simple perfumes made from locally accessed flowers such as lavender, gorse and meadowsweet. 

Our clothing is either thrown into the washing machine or sent to the dry cleaner. In Wales in the Middle Ages, keeping clothes clean was a challenge. Some fabrics were cleaned by pouring boiling water and other fabrics would be taken down to the river and beaten against stones then hung up to dry on trees or posts. Clothing would be kept in chests with herbs and dried flowers or hung up on pegs or poles where they would often absorb the smells of the tallow candles or more expensive beewax candles, the woodfire and whatever might have been cooking on it.

Kitchen smells might not have seemed so foreign to us except for the method of cooking over open fires or wood ovens. Smoke was everywhere but the aroma of bread, stews, roasts or vegetables boiling would seem almost familiar to us. Wild garlic was used and though many of the spices which emanated from the opening of trade routes during the crusades would not yet have been familiar.

The smells of a home would be quite different from what we are used to. Rushes were often used for flooring, and these could become damp and musty even though they were often strewn with herbs such as meadowsweet, thyme, lavender or whatever flowers were available. Thatch often was housing for rats, mice, birds and chickens, dogs or even other bigger animals would be inside the dwelling much of the time.

Outside smells would be similar to modern farmyard smells but there would be much more emphasis on the association of certain smells heralding a different stage of the year. After a few hot days, the sweet smell of rain on grass would be welcome just as April and May blossoms would represent the first stages towards a healthy harvest. The smells from milking, curd making and curing meat would also be familiar.

Outside the home, the church would be a well-visited place with the aromas of incense, heavily perfumed candles and wood polish. The floors again might well be rushes, often strewn with herbs or else with grander buildings the cold, slightly musty smell of stone. Markets would be full of the smells of the goods themselves: food, animals, leather, wool and other cloth. There would also be the sweat of labour as a blacksmith manufactured metal goods in his forge or tanners worked with skins.

We must not forget, that there were the smells of manure from animals, the horses which provided transport and from human waste which was disposed of in different ways. Middens and chamber pots did not smell pleasant but there were also uses for urine such as being used as a form of bleach and other human waste was often used as fertilizer if it was not emptied into the river.

If we were able to return to Wales in the Middle Ages, would we be able to stand the smells? I think that we would get used to them very quickly but there would also be some lovely surprises. We are used to a world of insecticide control but imagine all the wonderful smells of blooms growing wild and free.

If you are interested in historical fiction you may wish to read two books covering this period in Welsh history: ‘The Welsh Traitor’s Daughter ‘ and the sequel, ‘The Welsh Warrior’s Inheritance’.