The Roman Garden
Chester, Cheshire
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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.
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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
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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.
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Panel at
Pepper Street Entrance |
Click on the images to
see larger versions |
Panel at
The Grove entrance
on the banks of the River Dee |
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Planning Grid
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Location: |
The Roman Garden, Pepper Street, Chester |
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Grid Reference: |
SJ407660 |
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Getting there: |
Just outside the city walls, SE of the city |
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Access: |
Top entrance off Pepper Street and bottom
entrance off of The Grove which runs alongside the River Dee. |
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Parking: |
limited amounts of car parking in The Grove,
but plenty of car parks in the city. |
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Facilities: |
seating and grass areas |
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Things To Do,
See and Photograph: |
Roman relics, plants and trees, some parts of
the City Walls |
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What to take: |
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Nature highlights: |
butterflies and insects, shrubs and berry
producing trees and shrubs |
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Address: |
Roman Garden
Pepper Street
Chester
Cheshire |
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Postcode: |
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Telephone: |
01244 402 397 |
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Opening times: |
Any time |
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Charges: |
Free |
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Photo Restrictions: |
None |
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Other Restrictions: |
None |
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Special Needs Access: |
via a gently sloping path from Pepper Street
down |
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Special Needs Facilities: |
None specific |
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Children Facilities: |
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Dogs Allowed: |
Yes - on leads |
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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
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