Sorting the finds with Rob Armour-Chelu

A succession of royal houses have stood in the grounds of Kew Gardens. The Hanoverian royal family built and destroyed palaces at a prolific rate – adding to their reputation for decadence. The Time Team excavations of the White House at Kew turned up dozens of trays of finds, but what do they tell us about this particular house? Time Team finds expert Rob Armour-Chelu explains their significance.

Posh pots
'The bulk of the ceramic finds are actually related to the gardens – lots of flower pots and bits of border, which are 18th and 19th century,' says Rob. 'However, there are a few pieces which relate to the palace. We have some nice late 17th- and early 18th-century pottery, which is of a very high status. We have some nice Chinese pottery, which is imported and hand painted. It's very posh and certainly fit for a king. Most of the garden-related stuff has come from the top layers of soil which are over the foundations and cellars that we are excavating.'

How about evidence for the palace itself?
'We are getting lots of demolition material from the cellars. It looks like the cellars here have been deliberately back-filled to level the ground, and the material in them is good structural stuff. We were concerned that the fill material may have been brought onto the site, but it now it appears that what we are looking at is certainly from the house.'

How can you tell that the material is of high status?
'Well our initial concerns have been answered wonderfully. We have some lovely Portland stone, which Sir Christopher Wren used to rebuild substantial parts of London after the great fire. It was the smart stone to use and also the material we understand the White House was built of. We have some more good evidence in our collection, including some stone mouldings of Portland stone that have been white-washed. People would have seen a glowing white building, which would have looked fantastic. We also think that at least part of the roof would have been green. We have Westmorland slate, which is a lovely green colour. It looks like they've shopped around for the best possible materials. They could certainly afford it and all the evidence shouts of opulence. It's as much about showing how much money you've got as being aesthetically pleasing.'

Can you see different phases in the building from the evidence?
'We know that there were several phases of building here, but we don't know if the house was demolished at each phase. This seams highly unlikely. We have lots of different roof tiles on top of the Westmorland slate, but they could well belong to outbuildings or the like. We also have lots of different flooring, from terracotta tiles to Portland stone, which has been keyed (scored) on one side so that it can be mortared down. This certainly looks like a collection from a palace of different phases.'

What other sorts of finds have you been getting?
'We have had some nice coins, including some Maundy money, which is given to staff at Easter, and some other silver coinage dating to the 1720s. It looks like the palace would have been completely cleared out before it was demolished, so there's not much by way of pottery. You can see high-status imported pottery in museums everywhere, but it's really nice to actually find it in-situ.'

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