A Women’s Institute (WI) group has made its own perfumes inspired by the recipes of a local Devon pharmacist.

The Newton Abbot branch of the popular community group for women had a session with the town museum’s community engagement officer Kate Green in May where they learned about Bibbings Pharmacy.

Read more: Prescriptions to paninis: 'Iconic' pharmacy café on the market for £55k

John Henry Bibbings opened the pharmacy in 1877 and the museum’s curator Dr Charlotte Dixon revealed to C+D the history behind his business.

“Bibbings used his knowledge of botany to create his own perfumes,” Dixon said.

“It is said that he travelled to Grasse in southern France with a pouch of gold sovereigns to purchase precious essential oils distilled there.”

Two of Bibbings’ perfumes became “renowned”, which were called ‘Bradley Woods Bouquet’ and ‘Devonia Violets’.

Read more: Huge collection of pharmacy artefacts up for auction

And a 1904 advert claimed the former perfume was particularly enduring, saying it “lasts longer than any other scent, giving off whole volumes of enchanting odours even after repeated washing!”

Dixon said the perfumes “inspired the workshop” with the WI group who created their own scents using “different essential oils and petals to infuse along with citrus fruits and herbs”.

Mahogany, ‘flubane’ and cakes

Newton Abbot Museum’s archives on Bibbings Pharmacy also revealed how it was built to mirror the owner’s prominence.

“The floor of the interior is the original mosaic, laid by Italian craftsmen, on which stand the magnificent Honduras mahogany fittings,” Dixon said.

Read more: Pharmacy in the 17th century: a look inside an apothecary’s shop

“The ‘no costs spared’ fittings reflect Bibbings’ confidence and success at the time.

“He qualified as a pharmaceutical chemist winning a silver medal, presented by the Pharmaceutical Society as an annual prize, for his herbarium that was a reference collection of pressed medicinal plants.”

Read more: Theme park’s £20k Victorian pharmacy set for auction

His mahogany cabinet had 117 small drawers that contained drugs used commonly at the time, with Dixon explaining many of these were of “plant origin and were imported from all over the world”.

“They arrived as bundles of roots and gourds filled with collected resin, strips of bark, or huge bales of herbage.

“Raw drugs probably arrived by train to Newton Abbot, and it would have been the pharmacist’s duty to check the drugs were pure and unadulterated. 

“The art of identifying the species of plant from pieces or powders is ‘pharmacognosy’ - a rare skill today.”

Read more: Pharmacy ‘ghost sign’ uncovered by new ‘escape room’ tenants

Dixon also revealed that one of Bibbings’ own remedies to help locals recover from illness had “remained in the minds of local farmers and townsfolk of Newton Abbot”.

The medication was called “flubane” and according to Dixon, it “tasted so awful they felt it must be doing them good!”

Read more: How were Pharmacy First conditions treated 1,000 years ago?

In recent years, the pharmacy stopped its normal operations and started selling cakes and cream teas after it became The Pharmacy Café.

The business retained its Victorian era drug cabinets and repurposed them to display chinaware and trinkets.

C+D reported last May it went on the market for £55,000, but the café business announced it was closing for good in April.