Jam Yesterday Jam Tomorrow is a community led project funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund to uncover and restore the
history of market gardening in Middlesex through research, oral histories and the building of a model market garden to
showcase traditional methods of growing and lost varieties. To find out more online visit: www.environmenttrust.co.uk and
etrustwiki.co.uk/et
Dig for Victory Factsheet:
Local Memories
1 Historical Context
Throughout the 19th century, the economy
of Middlesex was dominated by the need to feed
London’s booming population. Parishes along the
river, and those within easy walking distance of
the hungry markets of London, became centres
for commercial agriculture. Over time the rapid
expansion of London’s urban area
forced out market gardeners from central
London into the southwest suburbs, and a
number of Enclosure Acts allowed common
grazing land to become market gardens. Farmers
became horticulturalists, and farms became
market gardens and orchards. The arrival of the
railway to Twickenham, Teddington and Whitton
in the middle of the-century allowed market
gardeners to move away from the river, deeper
into Middlesex. In many areas, employment in
agriculture exceeded that in trade, manufacturing,
and handicrafts. Gradually, however, as London
continued to grow, house-building for the new
‘commuter classes’ began, and orchards began
to give way to houses. The industry peaked in the
1870s, and then moved to the Hampton area,
where large glasshouses allowed growers to
produce fruit and vegetables more efficiently.
Several of the Hampton nurseries continued to
thrive through the Second World War and after,
until their land was finally built upon to
become Nurserylands housing estate.
2 Growing Food During World War Two
Prior to 1939, market gardening in the Britain was in severe decline. Cheaper produce from abroad
meant there was little investment in market gardening infrastructure of mechanisation before the
outbreak of World War Two.
Following the outbreak of war, imports became increasingly restricted. Market gardens began to be
seen again as an important part of Britain’s agricultural industry. With the Ministry of Food calculating
that oil would be cheaper and easier to obtain than bulky horse fodder, the mechanisation of market
gardens begun at a rapid rate.
Manned by the Land Girls of the Women’s Land Army, with
young male workers hit by conscription into the Armed
Forces, tractors and other new technologies began to
dominant the market garden industry. Later on in the war,
even foreign Prisoners of War were labouring on market
gardens as the food they produced became more valuable.
Land Army Girls at Pages Nursery,
Hampton, 1940s, courtesy of the
Mason’s family
Traditional crops found in the market gardens of
Twickenham and Hounslow and the Hampton nurseries
were not seen as suitable for growing during the war.
Flower crops were restricted to a maximum of 10% of
greenhouse space by the Ministry of Agriculture, and the
growing of ‘luxury’ crops was punishable by fines. In 1941,
a grower was fined £10 plus costs for growing strawberries
instead of cabbages on a quarter acre of land!
The day-to-day activities of market gardeners in Twickenham and Hounslow and nurserymen in
Hampton were also affected by ongoing air raids. Travel to Covent Garden Market, which previously
would have taken place before dawn, was delayed until the daytime to adhere to blackout restrictions
and avoid bomb damage. The market gardens’ greenhouses themselves were also a target for
German bombers, with reflections often giving their location away to planes overhead. To find out
more online visit: www.environmenttrust.co.uk; also etrustwiki.co.uk/et - see Jam Yesterday, Jam
Tomorrow: Research section.
3 Impact/Legacy
The need for home-grown produce led to a revival in the declining market gardening industry,
continuing the Twickenham and Hounslow area’s market garden heritage. Investment and
modernisation meant that the industry was once again able to compete with foreign competition, with
productivity far outstripping that of war-ravaged continental Europe.
The war also provided the impetus for closer contact between market gardens and horticultural
institutions such as the Royal Horticultural Society. They worked together to produce leaflets for the
Dig for Victory campaign, educating the public on how best to make use of any spare growing space
they may have had.
While the market gardens may now be no more, their efficiency and versatility during World War Two
exemplified Britain’s wartime spirit.
4 Find out more
Please visit our project website to find more resources: To find out more online visit:
www.environmenttrust.co.uk; also etrustwiki.co.uk/et - see Jam Yesterday, Jam Tomorrow: Research
section.
This factsheet was researched and written by Matt Irani, Research and Oral History Volunteer.
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