Home Newsletter Locations Diary
 Indexes
Topic Alpha County Sections By

Travellers Resource
Garden Section Introduction Garden Index
Further Info England Scotland Wales
      

The Roman Garden

Chester, Cheshire

Featured Location Guide

The "Roman Garden" is something of a misnomer. There is no indication that a garden existed on this site near Newgate during Roman times. The garden space was, in fact, created in the 1950s to display the finely carved building fragments from the Roman legionary fortress of Deva and artefacts found throughout Chester.

 The Hypocaust (underfloor heating system)

 

The gardens contain Roman columns from the exercise hall of the Roman bathhouse and they originally stood 6ft tall to support the stonework. A hypocaust can also be seen, which shows the advanced under floor heating system. The bathhouse would have contained a games room (basilica), sauna (sudatoria) and bathing halls and was built in AD 75.

Click on the image to see a larger version See Larger Image

The gardens were re-modeled in 2000 to provide access to the River Dee. The design makes use of the steep gradients forming a pattern of snaking paths and geometric shapes. As well as steps taking you down each of the levels there is a winding gently sloping path which allows disabled access to the gardens. There are many trees and shrubs within the garden and the planting has been linked to Roman times by using plants what in their day would have been used for medicinal purposes, including Thyme, Salvia, Rosemary and Alchemilla. There are a number of marble effect benches around for you to sit and enjoy what you can see before you.

Interpretive panels/signs throughout the garden tell the story of Roman Chester and they give a brief history of the site and what you can see. Today it is less a Roman archaeology attraction than a quiet green space in the city centre.

See Larger Image Panel at Pepper Street Entrance See Larger Image Click on the images to
see larger versions
See Larger Image Panel at The Grove entrance
on the banks of the River Dee

Further information Grid

 

Location:

The Roman Garden, Pepper Street, Chester

Ceremonial County: Cheshire

Grid Reference:

SJ407660

Map Link:

StreetMap 

Aerial photo:

Google Aerial Photo

Route(s):

 

Best Times to Visit:

 

E-mail:

landscape@chester.gov.uk

Website:

Chester City Roman Gardens

Other useful websites:

On the Arts Trail

Nearby Locations:

Chester Amphitheatre     Chester City Walls

Chester Castle

Other Relevant pages: Cheshire Attractions   Cheshire Gardens
 

.


Planning Grid

Location:

The Roman Garden, Pepper Street, Chester

Grid Reference:

SJ407660

Getting there:

Just outside the city walls, SE of the city

Access:

Top entrance off Pepper Street and bottom entrance off of The Grove which runs alongside the River Dee.

Parking:

limited amounts of car parking in The Grove, but plenty of car parks in the city.

Facilities:

seating and grass areas

Things To Do, See and Photograph:

Roman relics, plants and trees, some parts of the City Walls

What to take:

 

Nature highlights:

butterflies and insects, shrubs and berry producing trees and shrubs

Address:

Roman Garden
Pepper Street
Chester
Cheshire

Postcode:

 

Telephone:

01244 402 397

Opening times:

Any time

Charges:

Free

Photo Restrictions:

None

Other Restrictions: None
Special Needs Access: via a gently sloping path from Pepper Street down
Special Needs Facilities: None specific
Children Facilities:  
Dogs Allowed: Yes - on leads

Please let us know any other information that we can add to the Further information and Planning Grids or page and any errors that you discover. Before making a long trip to any location it is always wise to double check the current information, websites like magazines may be correct at the time the information is written, but things change and it is of course impossible to double check all entries on a regular basis. If you have any good photographs that you feel would improve the illustration of this page then please let us have copies. In referring to this page it is helpful if you quote both the Page Ref and Topic or Section references from the Grid below. To print the planning grid select it then right click and print the selected area.

Please submit information on locations you discover so that this system continues to grow.

 


By: Tracey Park Section: Gardens Section Key:
Page Ref: roman_gardens Topic: Gardens Last Updated: 03/2011
.

This page:

Link directly to this page, with text or the button on right.

Text linking:  Roman Gardens, Chester   on Photographers Resource

Linking Instructions                            http://www.photographers-resource.co.uk/

Photographers Resource, all the information for the photographer