Along with the knife, several other artefacts were also discovered. Among these items included a shoe, butter dish, bottles, tile, pottery, and nails, all varying in age. Most notable of the bunch were nails believed to be a part of the barrel that held a large sabal palm in the 1800s near Leith Walk, before being transported to the Tropical Palm House in the 1820s. Another find from the 1800s was a medicine bottle believed to hold medicine for baldness and constipation. Nearer-dated finds, around 100 years old, were the butter dish and shoe, indicated by their chipping and stitching. Fiona Inches, horticulturist and glasshouse manager, emphasizes that “they didn’t quite expect” these discoveries and “it’s exciting and [they] are very curious about the different elements [they] have found in the ground.”
The excavation project, starting in 2021, in which they found these artefacts, has already removed 800 plants - amongst which was the large sabal palm once held in a barrel by the nails found. The project aims to create a new heating system that would be “more fuel efficient, reducing [their] carbon footprint for the future.” One of the garden’s priorities is to conserve the world's plants, and these efforts would aid in this goal. Excavation plans to finish in April, followed by the full installation of the heating system. The garden is set to reopen this section in the middle of 2026 and will include a display of the artefacts found in the process.