Page 61 - ALG Issue 2 2021
P. 61

                                   Three local grants help out Hurst Allotments
With thanks to the Hurstpierpoint Parish Council, Hurstpierpoint Community Charity and the Mid Sussex District Council, the allotments in Hurstpierpoint have been able to install five additional taps and tanks. This is going to have a huge impact on many of the 100+ allotment holders.
Over the past few years there has been an increased interest in and demand for an allotment. This has further increased during the past few months when
the allotment is one of the few places people could go! They have proved to be the salvation of many! Because of the increased demand, the original 10 rod plots have been subdivided to provide smaller areas, which many people find more manageable. The original six standpipes were no longer sufficient to meet the needs of the additional plots. These taps were also a long way from some people’s allotment, and during the hot summers it was a struggle to carry watering cans a long distance.
The Hurstpierpoint Allotment Association decided to see whether
it was possible to raise the funds to install additional taps. The Association had some funds, raised through the annual plant sale, seed swap and Open Day, but not enough for the project. Hurstpierpoint Parish Council was supportive of the idea and suggested Hurstpierpoint Community Charity and the Mid Sussex District Council Grants. Application forms were submitted, and we were delighted to hear that we had been successful and could go ahead with the work. A local company, Sussex Water Mains Services Ltd, provided
the most competitive quote, and in the wettest of February days arrived at the
site. Their job was not an enviable one as they were digging wet clay. They did a great job and kept any damage to the paths to a minimum. Every allotment now has easy access to water which will make the site more inclusive for the wide demographic who have an allotment.
HISTORY OF HURST ALLOTMENTS
Dedicated open spaces set aside for the benefits of communities to grow food goes back to the Anglo-Saxon times. Allotments, as we recognise them, trace back to the late 19th century. During this time land was assigned
to the labouring poor to improve diet, social connections, and health.
As the 1800s ended, the land known
as White Horse Field was owned by a local vicar, Richard Maschiter, having been purchased from the Grange Farm Estate some 15 years earlier. The field ran from Western Road to the stream of Grange Farm Orchard to the west. When Robert Maschiter died in 1909, his estate was divided up and in 1922 White Horse Field was offered for sale. Political and social thinking at the time was towards the population becoming self-sufficient in meeting its dietary requirements, the country having been brought to its knees with the blockade of war. Local residents proposed the field to be turned over to the community for allotments. Unfortunately, the sale price of £200 an acre was prohibitive for parish budgets. Undeterred, a group
of parishioners collectively purchased the land and, in agreement with the Parish Council, sold small plots that would become the houses we now see on the west footpath of Western Road. The sale of the plots subsidised the
The site was originally divided up into 10 rod plots, an ancient form of measuring land dating back to the Ancient Roman ‘Pertica’
remaining field to the Parish Council at an affordable rate, who transformed the space into allotments.
The site was originally divided up into 10 rod plots, an ancient form of measuring land dating back to the Ancient Roman ‘Pertica’ and a space deemed by the Ministry of Food to enable a family of four to be self-sufficient.
Anyway, these additional taps and tanks which we have been able to install thanks to the generosity of
The Hurstpierpoint Parish Council, Hurstpierpoint Community Charity
and the Mid Sussex District Council, will ensure that the Hurst Allotments continue to thrive and be a place where local people can come together to grow produce, to get exercise, to socialise, to share and generally be part of a great institution.
Ruth Schofield, Secretary, Hurstpierpoint Allotment Association
          Allotment and Leisure Gardener 61













































































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