- Title: UK: London's latest tourist attraction burns visitors at the stake
- Date: 9th February 2010
- Summary: PRIEST WALKING UP ROOM SPEAKING TO SCHOOL GROUP PAGE ON BOOK TURNS ALONE SCREEN SHOWING ACTRESS PORTRAYING QUEEN MARY 1 HOODED PRIEST STANDING PRIESTS HANDS HOODED PRIEST PRIEST PICKING PERSON FROM THE GROUP PERSON WALKS UP TO PYRE/ PRIEST TIES PERSON TO PYRE WITH A ROPE
- Embargoed: 24th February 2010 12:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: Travel / Tourism
- Reuters ID: LVA8TWI4IEVTHCF2GYU4MMPCK5C7
- Story Text: A chalice swings from side to side as a hooded priest leads a group through a musty church corridor, into a room filled with the stench of burning flesh.
Confusion descends as one of the group is pulled up to the pyre and burnt at the stake. Screams pierce the silence, as the room goes black.
This new attraction at the London Dungeon is expected to cause a stir when it opens on Saturday (February 13) taking tourists back in time to the 16th Century.
The attraction, 'Bloody Mary: Killer Queen', is based on British Queen Mary 1. She reigned from 1553 up to her death in 1558 as Queen of England and Ireland.
As the eldest daughter of King Henry VIII she is remembered for returning England to Roman Catholicism burning Protestants who refused to convert at the stake, earning her the title of 'Bloody Mary'.
A school group from the Bourne Community College was the first to experience the new attraction which utilises a mix of special effects that vividly create the flames burning a helpless victim tied to the pyre.
Ellie, aged 12 said the attraction scared her.
"I thought it was really scary. I was scared and I screamed," adding the scariest bit for her was when, "the teacher got burnt".
"I thought it was scary," added Charlie, another student.
Their teacher, Janet felt the attraction brought history to life.
"I think. It's very hard for them to understand how kind of violent and aggressive the actual sort of period was and I think this actually brings it to life a lot more," she said.
The attraction has the additional element of the acrid smell of a burning flesh, created specially for The London Dungeon.
The London Dungeon General Manager, Nicola Ratcliffe, said it was important to bring the past alive to the visitors and smell was an important element of that.
"We want to bring the experience alive at the London Dungeon and we know smell can evoke an emotion for people and by putting in a sense of smell basically makes you more immersed into the guest experience and that is what we want to do and at the experience at the London Dungeon, "
Director of Dale Air, Frank Knight whose company created the smell highlighted the importance of smell in remembering the past.
"I think its very important because you are using one of your other senses and it helps, especially school groups to understand it is part of history, and the smell is as part of history as much as the visual elements," he said.
Knight explained the challenges in creating an authentic smell.
"Well this was very difficult. It was very very difficult, the first point was the internet. So I read up as much as I can, it used to be the library but now the internet is here now. So I did a lot of revision on the internet but they don't always describe smells because it is a very hard thing to describe. So what we did, what we did was we went and talked to people like firemen who have had the experience and undertakers because of course of their experience of the crematorium side," he said.
Earlier on Tuesday, the London Dungeon conducted smell tests on the public to find out what people thought of their creation.
Not many ventured close enough to the stench which though subtle at first, lingers in your nostrils.
The smell was a combination of carefully researched scents.
"Some of the components we already understood, things like what burning wood was and how that smelt like. But then we had to come up with things like the hair, burning hair, the smoke we had and then we had to come up with the smell of burning flesh. And the nearest we could get really, was like pork scratchings. The rest I can't say because it belongs to the London Dungeons," Knight said with a smile. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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