There have been allotments on this site from the late 1830s when the Churchwardens and overseers of Staines enclosed about 20 acres of Shortwood Common for letting out Cottage Gardens to the labouring poor of the Parish of Staines.

 

The size of the site has been reduced over the years to about 10 acres. In 1848 about 2 acres were lost on the northern boundary with the construction of the railway line. Further land was lost with the building of the aqueduct across the site in 1897. However it was the construction of the extension to the Staines bypass from the Crooked Billet roundabout to the Fordbridge roundabout in 1964 that completely divided the site into two resulting in Shortwood North and Shortwood South.

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Other disruption to the site has been caused by the installation of gas main, high voltage power lines and pylons. More recently in 2004 underground high voltage cables were laid to provide power for Heathrow's Terminal 5.

 

Shortwood South allotments were closed in the 1980s.

 

So who runs Shortwood North Allotments?

 

By the time of the 1908 Allotments Act, Staines Urban District Council which was created in 1894 was running the site. In 1974 Spelthorne Council was formed and the site remained under its control until December 2015. At that point after protracted negotiations with the Council the trustees of Shortwood North Allotment Association signed an agreement to manage the site.

 

All the tenants on Shortwood North Allotments are members of the Association. The Association's Committee who are all plot holders deal with the day to day running of the site. Substantial improvements have been made since we became self-managed and we continue to welcome new members to join us and help revitalise the site.