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Allotment Gardens

Published: 8th March 2008 14:44

Allotment Gardens

Allotments have held a place in gardeners' hearts for several years and have become a British institution. We do not have to travel far from home to find a thriving group of allotment gardens and gardeners.

The word ‘allotment' originates from land being allotted to an individual under an enclosure award, a process adopted by rich landlords to prevent the poor from grazing their animals on common land. As more common land became enclosed, so commoners were ‘ compensated' with allocations of land or ‘allotments' attached to tenant cottages.

Robber Barons

In the mid-seventeenth century, the English Reformation saw many monastic and church lands confiscated and dissolved, resulting in greater landholding by the so-called ‘Robber Barons'. This land never returned to its original owners. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1^st, further ‘compensations' were made in the form of allocation of land to tenants.

As we move forward to the early nineteenth century, we begin to see the beginnings of what we now recognize as allotments in their present form. The Enclosure Act legislated that some form of ‘field gardens' should be made available to landless poor people in rural areas. These plots of land were to be limited to a quarter of an acre.

‘Degeneracy'

Originally, these early forms of allotments were limited to rural areas but with the coming of the Industrial Revolution, more and more people were moving into urban homes which were intensively built, with very little room for gardens. Victorian society became aware of what it saw as ‘degeneracy' among the working classes and a groundswell of opinion developed that land should be set aside as ‘ an alternative to drink and other unworthy pursuits'.

In 1887 the ‘Allotments Act' came into being, legislating that local authorities were duty - bound to provide allotments if there was demand. This received some resistance , so in 1907, the legislation was tightened further and the ‘Smallholding and Allotment Act' was brought in to impose responsibilities on parish, urban district and borough councils. This was further tightened in 1908 with the ‘Allotment Act', which consolidated and repealed all the previous acts.

First World War

As the effects of the First World War (1914-1918) began to take their toll on the supply of food to people, the importance of allotments began to increase and every piece of allotment ground was used to its fullest effect and the benefit of availability of allotments for growing of fruit and vegetables was felt by all.

After the First World War, however, during the 1920s and 1930s, as the building of housing became a priority, many of the good intentions with allotments were beginning to fall by the wayside and the 1908 Allotment Act declined in importance in the public's eyes. Many allotment sites then fell victim for the desire for regeneration and rebuilding.

‘Dig for Victory'

The Second World War (1939-1945) saw once again the need to grow fruit and vegetables at home to feed the nation and, by necessity, public parks and gardens were cultivated to grow food. Allotments once again were deemed important for the nation's health and wellbeing and people too old to be conscripted to fight in the war were engaged, together with older children and the women's ‘Land Army', in endeavouring to grow as many fruit and vegetable crops as possible for the nation.

As the hostilities ended, the parks and gardens resumed their original uses, that of providing an attractive ornamental and restful ‘green lung' in an urban situation.

Affluence

The 1950s saw increased affluence, following the hardship of the war and immediate post-war years and the famous comment of Prime Minister Harold Macmillan in 1957: "You've never had it so good." became part of our folklore. With this increased affluence, food was produced on a much larger scale and with intensive techniques by farmers and produce became much cheaper to buy. As supermarkets grew, so did the competition and bulk buying from growers, so, with this free availability of fruit and vegetables, the interest in growing plants in allotments declined. As a result, many allotment plots began to fall into disuse.

With the apparent decline in interest in allotment growing and increased need for housing and industrial development to meet the needs of an increasingly affluent society, many allotment plots were lost to building. There appeared to be an inexorable move towards destroying the allotment spaces, never for them to reappear.

Achievements

In recent years, however, many people have taken a step backwards and looked at what has been provided. Fears of chemical additions to food and the genetic engineering of some foods have prompted a new generation of food growers to emerge and gardening as a leisure and fitness activity increased in popularity. Once again, the allotment plots were being taken up and developed.

Nothing could compare with the sense of achievement as people harvested their own produce. Since 1996, the steady decline in allotment usage has been reversed and people have taken up allotment plots at reasonable rents and are growing their own produce.

Current Threats to Allotment Growing

Despite the continued interest in allotment growing, there are, regrettably, a number of persistent threats to the grower.

Development is still a shadow over many allotment gardens and the need for housing and relief roads will not go away. In some cases, tenants of allotment properties are offered alternative sites. Although this is some compensation, it does not make up for years of adding nutrients to the ground and improving soil structure by the addition of organic matter.

Vandalism rears its ugly head and, regrettably, hooligans can find their way into what appear to be the most secure sites and destroy in minutes what allotment growers have carefully nurtured. What is annoying is that they often do not steal the crops for food, taking pleasure in wanton destruction. Fortunately, increased vigilance is lessening the access for these individuals.

The weather is also a factor in whether allotment gardeners continue. This year's heavy rains and subsequent flooding have caused many crops to wilt and die - something rather disconcerting for the new allotment gardener in particular. My advice, for what it is worth, is to persevere.

Over the years, allotment gardens have become a major feature of our landscape and have provided food and a fitness and leisure activity to be envied. Long may they continue!