Figure 1. Excavation revealed the brick foundations of the steps built into the terrace running along both terraces of the Privy Garden. These were later removed and grassed over. The steps

have now been restored

been deliberately cultivated or they may be there as the result of the chance accidents of natural propagation. This is the point in any reconstruction project where there has to be a close integration between what can be learned from an interpretation of the physical fabric and the information provided by contemporary texts or, better still, the notes and plans and accounts of the designer.

Garden restoration projects are expensive and much restoration-led garden archaeology has been undertaken by organisations such as the National Trust at Bidduiph Grange or English Heritage at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, at Kirby Hall, Audley End and at Chiswick and, of course, the Historic Royal Palaces at Hampton Court. The use of garden archaeology does not have to be confined to large or prestige sites nor to a role within restoration schemes; the excavation of No. 4, The Circle, Bath by the Bath Archaeological Trust confirmed the viability of applying a wider range of techniques to a small garden of an 18th century terraced house. This again was an opportunity generated by a restoration project, but excavation can just as well be used to record the evidence of threatened sites, large or small, or of gardens due to be lost or substantially disturbed as the result of development or building activity. This was what happened, for example, in the excavation prior to their partial destruction of a set of gardens at the Officers Terrace, Chatham Dockyard. However, the techniques of archaeological investigation and recording do not have to used solely in connection with rescue or restoration projects; they may also have a vital part to play in securing the future of a site since, linked with the management plan. A record of what is there and a policy decision about what should be left undisturbed is often just as important as identifying areas for change or restoration.

It is always important to assess the nature of the site and to be clear about the reasons for requiring an archaeological survey or assessment. This in turn helps to select the most appropriate approach and techniques.

The garden is only one element of an historic estate; there will usually also be a park which may have its own individual identity and carry, for example, traces of medieval phases and features predating its redesign as an ornamental park sometime in the mid-l8th century. Similarly, many early gardens, particularly those of formal layout, incorporated earthworks,

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