The Herb Garden at Barber-Surgeons' Hall

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The Herb Garden at the Hall is cared for by Arthur Hollman, a physician with a long interest in the medical uses of herbs.  The Barbers Company which was founded 1308 had a hall near the current site in 1441. There are few references to the garden in our Annals but we do know that in October 1555 the Clerk was given an allowance for trimming, sweeping and weeding the garden. However the first specific reference to a herb garden as such was at a meeting of the Court on 12th September 1597 when it was plants of suchlike as the said Mr. Gerard should think meetJohn Gerard was a surgeon and also a renowned plantsman, author, and gardener. His famous Herbal was published in 1597, and he became our Master in 1607. In 1630 the company bought 100 sweet briars (probably to form a stout hedge) and also plants of rosemary, strawberry, violets and vines. In 1666 the garden prevented the Great Fire from reaching the Anatomical Theatre, though the rest of the hall was lost. The next hall was destroyed by bombs in 1940, and the splendid new hall was opened in 1969. The site of the present garden is interesting. In AD 122 Emperor Hadrian built a stone fort in the City. Around AD 300, 21 bastions were added, each one with a giant catapult (a "ballista") to shoot iron bolts. Our garden is in bastion number 13, and being on an ancient site it was necessary to get Scheduled Monument Consent to create it. On the initiative of Past-Master Sir Francis Avery Jones the garden was commenced in 1987. It was constructed on a derelict bomb site by the Parks and Gardens Department of the Corporation of London, who manage the garden. The Company wanted to present a broad view of the way in which plants has been used from the earliest times to the present day in the practice of medicine and surgery. It is cared for by the Corporation, and Liveryman Arthur Hollman.  The garden open to the public and is approached from Wood Street via St. Giles Church (City Trail 2).  The Hall is not open to the public.

From The Herb Garden of the Worshipful Company of Barbers of London, 1998.