The first ever chocolate Easter egg was manufactured in 1873 by J.S Fry & Sons, with Cadbury then producing the modern chocolate Easter egg that we know today in 1875, which was made after developing a pure cocoa butter that could be moulded into smooth shapes.

While today lots of us enjoy chocolate eggs at Easter, in the past eating eggs was not permitted by church leaders in the week leading up to Easter, known as Holy Week.

So during that time, any eggs laid were saved and decorated to make them Holy Week eggs, which were then given to children as gifts.

The festal letter of Athanasius in 330 shows that the early church was practising a 40-day fast prior to Easter. The fifth-century church historian Socrates Scholasticus noted: "Some abstain from eggs…"

In pre-refrigeration days, it would be difficult to preserve milk and meat products until Easter, but the same was not true of eggs. Eggs, which unlike other foods do not perish quickly, were therefore a natural way to break the fast on Easter Sunday. Presenting gifts of eggs at Easter has a long and culturally diverse lineage. Practicality was one factor: Given that hens would be laying eggs throughout Lent, a surplus would exist by Easter, probably at lower prices.