HISTORY

The allotments at Northfield Avenue have a long history.

Prior to 1832 the land, where the current allotments are situated, was known as Ealing Dean Common.

The Common was also known as ‘Jackass Common’ as pony races were held there on holidays. These races were said to have continued until the 1880s when the local Council stopped them because of complaints about the 'evil they encouraged'.

Replica of poster advertising Ealing Races

This Common included the current allotment site and an area of land west of Northfield Avenue that was also allotments until the 1980s. The Common stretched up to the Uxbridge Road and included the area which is now Dean Gardens public park.

1832

1945

The layout of the roads immediately surrounding the allotments have remained unchanged since the early Nineteenth Century.

Mattock Lane, which was known as Magg Lane, bordered the site on the north, while Northfield Avenue, formerly called North Field Lane (until 1905), bordered to the west. On the south side Occupation Road seems to have been provided as an “occupation road for the Model Cottages” and remains relatively unchanged apart from the addition of new housing at various times. The footpath that runs up the East side of the allotment has been there since at least the early Nineteenth Century.

1832

1832 is an important date in the history of the site. This is when Charles James Blomfield, the Bishop of London, ensured the enclosure of the land for use as allotments. The original paperwork is in the London Metropolitan Archive. It is a little difficult to read - hence the question marks below. But, we think this is the best transcription available:

Charles James Blomfield

"I Charles James Bishop of London as Lord of the Manor of Ealing, otherwise Yealing(?) in the County of Middlesex, do hereby consent, in so far as by law I may or can, to the Enclosure of All that piece or Parcel of Waste or Common Land or Ground called Ealing Dean Common within the said Manor containing twenty Acres two Roods and sixteen perches or thereabouts according to the plan hereunder(?) arranged(?), in order that the same may be occupied solely in Allotments of not more  than one Rood to each person, by poor Parishioners of the said Parish of Ealing to be appointed by a Committee of Management, of whom the Vicar for the time being, always to be on.

"The said Allotments to be cultivated with the Spade provided nevertheless that no person or persons be permitted to work on the same Ground on the Lords Day on pain of forfeiture of his or their occupation provided also that no nuisance or inconvenience be occasioned  thereby to the Public especially to the occupiers of the Houses upon or near to the said Common  and that a sufficient quantity of the Common be reserved for convenient Roads and Footpaths and for the frontages to Houses. Witness my hand  this day of 7 November in the year 1832."

The Bishop tells us that each person should be allocated no more than one Rood - which is about a quarter of an acre or 10,890 sq ft, approximately 1,011 sq metres. Today we only rent out half-plots to newcomers - around 6m x 15m = 90 sq m.

The Bishop's letter also mentions that the plots should go to "poor Parishoners' which seem like a  Christian and altruistic thing to do. However, he may have had other motives, according to Blomfield's biographer Malcolm Johnson. "The Bishop thought that the Church should provide rival attractions, such as mens clubs, and his Ealing allotments laid out in 1832 were an attempt to substitute his beloved gardening for drinking as a pastime."

1911

This 1911 Photo shows Northfield Avenue with London Plane trees. On either side of the road the hedgerow hides the allotments. When this photo was taken the allotments had been in existence for 79 years. In the distance (to the right) you can see St. Johns Church and on the left, buildings on the Uxbridge Road.

From the book Ealing and Northfields by Richard Essen

Northfield Avenue 2013

We still have a hedge but, for extra security, we also have a 2m high fence too. In the 1911 photo the plane trees were a fairly new addition. They may be the reason why the name was changed from North Field Lane to Northfield Avenue . The plane trees are now mature providing shelter for birds and a some shade on the plots.

1945

Sadly, many of the allotments were built upon and lost to cultivation. The two Google images below show what we had and what was lost.

1945

2013

Information compiled by plot holders:

Paul McConnell
Simon Coleman
Christina Fox


Our history research is a work in progress - we will be adding more.


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Ealing Dean Allotments, Northfield Avenue, Ealing, London. 2014