Londinium by AD 60 was a booming centre of commerce teeming with merchants and other businessmen, most of them from abroad. As a Roman city London was unusual in that it was almost entirely a Roman creation and at first it would have had an almost entirely foreign population. By AD 125 many parts of the city were built up, London was a thriving port and would have been bustling with activity associated with this, and the Forum (which contained the market place) the Basilica and the amphitheatre.

As Hackney was outside the walls of Londinium and a rural area it may well have supplied the Roman city with food and timber as the growing city outstripped its own ability to supply produce to feed its population and wood to house them. Unfortunately due to lack of funds there has not been enough archaeological fieldwork, and therefore not enough study done to determine if this is so.

We do know that the ground around the river Lea in Roman times would have been fertile ground and that wheat and barley would have been grown in fields near to the city. Oxen would have been needed to plough the fields and cattle, pigs and sheep were also kept, the latter mainly for their wool rather than for eating. This is known because of analysis of Roman domestic refuse sites. Apples, pears, cherries, plums and quince were fruits that were grown for the Londinium market and the woodland would also have supplied nuts. Fish was a staple of the Roman diet, but in contrast to today, oysters were also a popular food stuff of the poor.

Hunting was a pastime of the Roman elite and the woodland of Hackney would have been home to wild boar and deer. According to MOLAS, areas directly outside the City, such as Shoreditch, possibly specialised in the production of perishables such as dairy, and also fruit and vegetables, honey and herbs.

There have been finds at Springfield Park which may point to a Roman villa. The villa estates were big opulent houses with farms attached, The slaves and labourers who worked on the farmers used tools surprisingly similar to those used by gardeners today and some wonderful examples of these exist in the Museum of London.