Exhibition: War, Plague and Fire, Museum of London, London
"This little thing has a silver compartment which opens out," explains Curator Meriel Jeater, releasing a pungent lavender-like smell from a tiny box next to a Great Plague death list.
"It's designed to help stop the disease. One of the theories was that the Plague spread through bad smells. This is filled with scents and fumes to ward it off."
We're wandering through War, Plague and Fire, the new gallery which opened last week at the Museum of London, spotting gruesome stuff along the way.
It started with a silk waistcoat, which may or may not have been worn by Charles I's exhumed corpse at his posthumous execution, and heads on past Oliver Cromwell's death mask, finding a London embroiled in the catastrophic 17th century Plague.
Oliver Cromwell's death mask. Photo: Museum of London
"That's not the week when the most people died," says Jeater, eyeing up deceased names from the encased log.
"There was a week in September where over 7,000 people died in a week. This week you've only got 6,000."
The record books also detail how the victims suffered. "It's quite sad sometimes," she says.
"Some people just died suddenly. For every funeral a bell had to be rung for 45 minutes to warn people of the Plague, to try and get people to abide by the Plague orders.
"There were various regulations to prevent the spread of plague. If there was an outbreak in a particular household people would be shut indoors – they weren't allowed out. They were left to die at home, really."
The Great Fire of London, Dutch School (1666). Photo: Museum of London
The winter of 1665 might have heralded the end of the bubonic epidemic, but a greater catastrophe was just around the corner.
The Great Fire began on Pudding Lane, and objects excavated from the cellar of a house two doors from the bakery where it started are on show here, including the melted remains of a glass window and a pottery jar.
"You need a temperature of about 1,700 degrees Celsius for pottery to melt," says Jeater, who reckons the paintings the gallery holds from the metropolitan inferno are as beautiful as the precious spoils from the ruins.
"I think we have the best ones," she says, admitting to bias as she points out an oil depiction of residents hurling their belongings into a boat on the Thames foreshore.
A 17th century fireman's helmet is on display. Photo: Museum of London
An antiquated fire engine stands nearby, joined by fire buckets and helmets in stoic, scorched remnants from a brave battle to save the city.
"One of the great problems was the lack of water available – people were breaking into the pipes to try and get the water out, causing the water to disappear," she says.
It only lead to further panic, with a plaque added to the bakery in 1681 blaming "barbarous papists" for the blaze.
"Everyone thought it was a conspiracy to try and turn off the water," ponders Jeater, who subscribes to the less glamorous reality of a plain old-fashioned accident.
"There was a popular theory at the time that it was a Catholic plot, which is all unfounded nonsense."
Next door, in a darkened cinema, the popular Great Fire Experience audio-visual re-enactment has been restored (top of page), although the most spectacular redevelopment appears to be going on downstairs, where builders are finalising the new £20 million Galleries of Modern London.
If the creative team behind the current galleries can tell a tale as compelling as this, then it will be well worth a visit.
Watch Meriel Jeater introduce ancient maps of the city, Oliver Cromwell's death mask and the Museum's replica of The Rose Theatre in our exclusive videos:
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