Rotten egg scent something to behold at Sick to Death Chester

The immersive attraction, which takes you on a trip through the history of medicine, has introduced a stinky new educational feature.

In the attraction's shop, visitors can look forward to a whiff of a 1,700-year-old Roman egg.

Sick to Death in Chester will be producing a smell like no other this Easter.

The new display includes a carefully recreated pong, based on eggs dug up in Berryfields, 2016, and which archaeologists said smelt terrible.

The odour for Sick to Death has been created alongside sister attraction Deva Roman Discovery Centre, who are experts in all things Roman.

Responsible for concocting the whiff is AromaPrime, which since 1973 has specialised in bringing the past to life through smell.

AromaPrime's customers include Jorvik Viking Centre, the Natural History Museum, the British Museum and Imperial War Museums, as well as the theatrical Dungeon attractions.

Visitors will be able to sniff the Roman eggs at Sick to Death throughout the Easter holiday.

Liam R. Findlay, heritage scenting consultant at AromaPrime, said: "When Oxford Archeology carried out excavations at a Roman roadside in Buckinghamshire, they studied a pit where locals would toss things in as religious offerings.

Sick to Death in Chester will be producing a smell like no other this Easter.

"The pit was waterlogged, which meant four chicken eggs within had been incredibly well preserved. Archaeologist Steve Leech removed one egg without breaking it, but the others weren't so lucky and released a horrendous, sulphur-like pong.

"The team at AromaPrime read about this research, before sniffing some real, rotting eggs, to get a good idea of what these ancient Roman discoveries might have smelt like.

"It all sounds very silly, but smells are a brilliant way of teaching people about history. In fact, one study showed that museum visitors who smelt recreated odours (including bad ones) remembered what they saw on their visit much better than those who didn't smell anything, even six years after their original visit.

"This suggests that smells can help museum visitors recall what they learned. I am sure few visitors to Sick to Death will forget the story of these Roman Eggs after they have a sniff – and what a brilliant story it is!

"AromaPrime has been making the smells of history for 50 years now, and we are excited to collaborate with Chester's brilliant historical attractions."

Big Heritage, the organisation behind Sick to Death, added: "The team at Big Heritage are continuously looking to immerse and excite out guests with new museum experiences to inspire the next generation of historians across all our sites. We hope the quirky stench of rotting egg will do just the trick!"

For more information about Sick to Death, visit https://sicktodeath.org/