The garden at Rothe House is a faithful recreation of the Rothe family garden. Our gardeners restored it as it would have appeared in the early 17th century. Rothe House garden is now the only urban garden of this period which is open to the public. The long, walled burgage plot runs from the rear of John Rothe’s house on Parliament Street to the city wall. Archaeological excavations in 2008 uncovered the original layout of the garden. Even the seeds and pollen of the plants of the 17th century were discovered.

The plants and trees that now grow in the garden are the same varieties that would have been grown by the Rothes: Deer Tongue lettuce, Scarlet runner beans, Gortahork cabbage, Mammoth leeks, Lovage, Borage, Lady’s Bedstraw, damson, Sweet Rocket, Calendula, Rosa Maidens Blush and Hollyhocks. Fruit varieties include Blood of the Boyne and Scarlet Crofton apples, medlars, figs and quince.