Probably, the history of herbal remedies stretches back to the time of earliest man, though from written records we know that the ancient Egyptians knew the powerful effects of herbs and also through the writings of the “Father of Medicine”, Hippocrates in the 4^th century BC who taught about the value of healing plants, where of the 400 herbs employed by him, we still use over half of them in modern times. Dioscorides, a Roman Army doctor from the 1^st century AD (who probably visited Britain) , complied a Materia Medica which remained the basis for herbal medicine for 16 centuries afterwards.

During the four hundred years of Roman occupation the Romans brought a number of plants from their colonies along the Mediterranean. Among these were Chervil, Chives, Celandine, Parsley, Rue, Onion, Fennel, Rosemary, Southernwood, Borage, Sage and Thyme. These herbs formed the basis of the herb gardens of the great monasteries which grew up all over Britain in medieval times. The earliest English Herbal, written about the time of the Norman Conquests, and stored in the British Museum, owes its origin to a book written by  a Roman doctor, Apuleius Platonicus.