Barbican Living
Barber Surgeons' Herb Garden
In the Middle Ages, the City was dominated by 'trades unions'. If you wanted to be a butcher a baker or a candlestick maker you had to belong to the relevant guild or livery company. One of these was the Worshipful Company of Barbers founded in 1308. They briefly merged with the Surgeons. In 1987 they had the wonderfully eccentric idea of reconstructing the ‘Herb garden’ which the Barbers Company had originally created in 1597. There is no visible boundary between the herb garden and the Barbican garden behind the Girls’ School. You can stroll round, past the circular bit of ancient wall, and visit it.
There are 49 herbs planted in a complicated concentric pattern. These are not herbs for eating; they are mediaeval remedies. The Barbers produce a fascinating little book on it. Herbs include ‘Southernwood’, which ladies used to take to church to keep them awake during sermons, and ‘Mandrake’ which traditionally screams when pulled up by the roots, and features in the Harry Potter books.
Next to the Barber Surgeons Hall, almost at Monkwell Square, is an ancient burial mound. If you crawl in under the tree branches you can see many abandoned tomb stones. The trees are Limes. There have been squirrel nests here in the past and this is one of the places where foxes may well have their earths.
It's a magical little area. How can you reasonably expect to find anything like this in the very heart of the City?
