Allotment History, A Brief History of Allotments in the UK

In the UK, allotments are small parcels of land rented to individuals usually for the purpose of growing food crops. There is no set standard size but the most common plot is 10 rods, an ancient measurement equivalent to 302 square yards or 253 square metres.

The history of allotments can be said to go back over a thousand years to when the Saxons would clear a field from woodland which would be held in common. Following the Norman conquest, land ownership became more concentrated in the hands of the manorial lords, monasteries and church. The reformation in the 1540s confiscated much of the church lands but they were transferred via the crown to the lords.

In the late 1500s under Elizabeth I common lands used by the poor for growing food and keeping animals began to be enclosed dispossessing the poor. In compensation allotments of land were attached to tenant cottages. This is the first mention of allotments

via Allotment History, A Brief History of Allotments in the UK.

Did you or anyone you knew have an allotment in Ushaw Moor and Deerness Valley, what did you grow ? ,  did you have any livestock ? , did u show leeks ?

Share your memories of your allotment with us.