Secrets of the Gardens - Jonathan Butler

Beneath Drapers' Gardens, in what was once a damp and
uninviting quarter of the Roman city of
Londinium
lies the buried valley of the Walbrook, home to some of the more unpleasant
industries of the town, as well as some remarkable and unexpected
finds, including a hoard of metal objects buried in a fourth
century well. However, what really sets this site apart is both
the extraordinary preservation of finds due to the particular
soil conditions of the Walbrook Valley, and the sheer size of the
area investigated. A near complete urban street with associated
buildings spanning many years of the Roman occupation was
uncovered. The land was purchased by the Drapers' Company in the
mid 16th century and remained open gardens for the next 400
years, contributing to the amazing preservation on site. Secrets of the Gardens
is a lavishly illustrated, full colour, popular interim account of the excavations, aimed at the general
reader and published in advance of a fuller account in standard
monograph format. It also includes sections on the Drapers'
Company history and the story of the construction of the new
building.