In 2010 the Museum of London Archaeology team carried out a dig at 9 and 11 Duke Street and unearthed a large collection of domestic rubbish. It was identified as several cartloads of pottery dumped by Edward Gray, St Marylebone’s parish scavenger, and the perfect material for consolidating the foundations of 18th-century houses being built on waterlogged ground.
The find was of national importance because it gives a rare insight into the tastes and fashions of the gentry and middle classes on one of London’s great estates. The pottery dated from 1765-1775 and included the remains of over 400 pieces – teapots, teabowls, serving dishes, sauce boats, blue and white porcelain plates and saucers, a pipkin, a whistle and even a chamber pot – from places as far apart as Vauxhall, Lowestoft, Worcester, Amsterdam and China.