A north London allotment site is celebrating 100 years of growing — marking a century that has taken in wartime food production, community fundraising and some of the capital’s most dedicated gardeners.
The Shepherds Hill Allotments, spread across six to seven acres between Highgate and Crouch End, are marking their centenary with a film, a cookbook and a produce show. The site’s 230 plot holders have been part of the area’s fabric since the allotments became permanent a century ago.
A century of growing
The land was first used for allotment gardens during the First World War, originally managed by the quaintly titled Hornsey Brotherhood’s Allotments Association. Hornsey Council later purchased the land, fulfilling its responsibilities under the Allotment Act of 1925 to provide permanent growing plots for residents.
The site expanded during the Second World War and the post-war years to counter food shortages — the famous “digging for victory” effort — before shrinking back to its original boundaries in the 1950s, where it has remained ever since. In the 1980s, Haringey designated the site as a Site of Importance for Nature Conservation, recognising its value for wildlife.
Committee member Jill Russell, who has held her plot since 2012, has produced a short history of the site including historic maps and photographs. “I have traced the growing of crops on the slopes of Shepherds Hill back to medieval times,” she said. “The booklet explores the many twists and turns in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that eventually led to Shepherds Hill Allotments becoming permanent, statutory allotments.”
Film, book and charity
Centenary celebrations include ‘Where We Grow’, a film by former BBC producer and director Ian Potts — himself a long-standing plot holder and member of the site’s ten-strong committee. It will be screened at the ArtHouse cinema in Crouch End in October and December.
“The film is an exploration of our allotment’s history and the people who have worked this land,” Potts said. “It’s a celebration of the highs and lows of allotment life.”
A cookbook, ‘We Grow, We Cook, We Eat’, featuring recipe contributions from plot holders, is due for publication next month. A centenary produce show, judged by gardening correspondent Ruth Pavey, was another highlight of the celebrations.
Giving back
The allotments have long supported two local charities through money raised at events held in the site’s barn: Highgate-based Harington, which helps students with learning differences develop life skills, and Hornsey Food Bank, which receives excess produce during the growing season.
Award-winning grower Gary Sycamore, who has held his plot since the mid-1980s, runs a popular stall at Alexandra Palace Farmers’ Market selling flowers and produce grown by him and fellow plot holders — including Jenny Gledhill, renowned for her magnificent flowers. Over the years, Sycamore has raised around £80,000 for Harington, including £7,700 in 2025 alone.
Demand for plots has outstripped supply since the 1990s, with prospective gardeners now waiting years for a space to become available — a sign, perhaps, that a century on, the appeal of growing your own in the capital is stronger than ever.
Set between Highgate and Crouch End on the edge of Queens Wood, the allotments offer their holders something increasingly rare in London: space, quiet and a direct connection to the seasons. For many of the 230 plot holders, the site is as much a community as a garden — friendships forged over shared harvests, advice swapped across fences, and a collective pride in a century of keeping the land productive.
As the centenary year draws on, with film screenings still to come in December and the cookbook on its way, the message from Shepherds Hill is simple: a hundred years of growing, and plenty more to come.
Londoners looking for free days out can also read about Tower of London ticket prices and the Diwali fireworks at Neasden Temple.
