Reclaiming Gloucester's Forgotten Witch Heritage
For 150 years, women locked in Gloucestershire Asylum for "oddness" and herbalism had their names buried, unspoken.
The Scented Veil brings them home.
Through scent, story, and ritual, we're reclaiming Gloucester Docks, once a site of water-judgement, as a place of pride.
Five immersive scent realms journey from persecution to celebration:
• Lavender & Rosemary - The Threshold
• Dock Water - The Waters
• Carbolic Soap & Hidden Herbs - The Asylum
• Hearth Smoke & Kitchen Herbs - The Hearth
• Frankincense & Wild Rose - The Reclamation
Five Immersive Scent Realms
The Threshold: Where difference was first noticed - a grandmother's herb, a whispered warning, knowledge that survived through scent and silence
The Passing of Knowledge
For 150 years, wisdom survived through silence. Elder hands passed bottles to younger hands in gardens, kitchens, churchyards — always hidden, always hushed.
Grandmothers whispered warnings: "Hide your herbs. Hush your knowing."
But the knowledge never died.
It was passed in recipes that were actually spells. In "weeds" left to grow wild in corners of gardens. In tinctures disguised as kitchen remedies. In songs hummed while stirring pots. In the specific way to harvest under moonlight, taught through demonstration, never written down.
This is how ancestral wisdom survives persecution: through the determination of elders who refuse to let their knowledge die, and the courage of young people who listen, learn, and carry it forward.
Ancestral wisdom passed from elder hands to young - the mechanism of survival
Three Generations
The Scented Veil brings together three generations of practitioners to share their ancestors' stories and reclaim heritage together:
Elder Practitioners (60+) Those who learned from grandmothers, who remember when herbalism was still whispered, who carry ancestral knowledge in their bones.
Mid-Generation (30-60) Those who are bridging worlds, reclaiming practices that were hidden from them, teaching their children what was kept from them.
Young Practitioners (18-30) Those who are claiming this heritage openly, no longer hiding, no longer hushing, speaking the names that were buried.
Together, we journey from persecution to celebration, from silence to voice, from isolation to community.
The keepers of wisdom: elder practitioners who preserved knowledge through generations of silence
The Reclamation
What was hidden is now celebrated.
We stand at Gloucester Docks — once a site of water-judgement where women were "swum" for witchcraft — in wholeness, naming ancestors aloud.
Three generations. No longer buried. No longer unspoken.
We survived. We are still here.
The Scented Veil transforms persecution sites into places of pride. Where our ancestors were condemned, we now celebrate. Where they were silenced, we now sing. Where they were isolated, we now gather in community.
This is what heritage reclamation looks like — not dusty archives, but living community claiming space with pride.
Dawn breaks over Gloucester Docks as three generations reclaim the persecution site with pride
About Glostenbury
Part of Glostenbury: Festival of the Senses - where heritage, accessibility, and community converge
Designed for blind, deaf, neurodivergent, and memory-affected participants. No reading required. No prior knowledge assumed. Everyone belongs.
The Scented Veil is part of Glostenbury: Festival of the Senses, a comprehensive cultural vision to position Gloucester as the UK's first truly inclusive sensory heritage destination.
Where traditional heritage experiences rely on sight and sound (excluding many), Glostenbury experiences engage all senses and work for everyone. Where typical festivals concentrate in city centres, Glostenbury activates heritage sites throughout neighbourhoods. Where most heritage preservation is institution-led, Glostenbury is community-authored.
This is cultural tourism reimagined: accessible by design, community-led, economically sustainable, and anchored in Gloucester's distinctive heritage.
The Scented Veil proves the methodology. Future iterations will reclaim other hidden histories - Polish immigrants, dock workers, local artisans - creating a network of neighbourhood-based heritage experiences spreading cultural benefit throughout Gloucester.