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The Fish Street
Allotments |
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After having been unused and
overgrow for over 20 years the Fish St Allotments site was purchased in 2026
by two local families and the site has been cleared of vegetation. During
that clear-up various items of historical interest were found. Some were in
one of the derelict sheds and some in the undergrowth. Several documents and
photographs have also kindly donated by one of the relatives of the Johnson
family who lived in the Beehive
Cottages and used the land as allotments during most of the 1900s and
undoubtedly kept beehives there. Here are some extracts of maps and
documents about the site from our archives, plus the recently the acquired
material and artefacts found on the site... (select an item to
enlarge it) |
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1830s Tithe map showing the allotments as No.168 |
part of a 1906 property sales map showing Lot-9 |
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an extract from the
1830s Tithe Awards
for 168 identifying the Landlord as Lord
of the Manor Henry
Coape occupier: farmer William Wade of Joyces Farm now Hall Farm and describing the field as “Lucerne Piece” |
part of the 1906
property sales brochure describing Lot-9 |
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more recent maps, such as these
from 1920s and 1960s, do not show any activity on
the site |
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Fish St. and the allotments wall with the Mill in the background probably in the 1930s |
Fish St. and the allotments wall with the mill warehouse converted to cottages probably in the 1950s |
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an aerial
view from 2000 showing the allotments on the left |
a painting of the Allotment sheds by Brian Callaghan in about 2010 |
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the top gate from the 1980s? |
view of the site in the 1980s? with a beehive in the left corner |
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the allotments looking south in 2025 |
the allotments looking north in 2025 |
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Here are
some of the artefacts that were found at the site in 2026... |
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photos of members of the family |
WW-2 Anderson style air-aid shelter |
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brass name tags “NFS” is the National Fire Service |
“Railway Timekeeper” pocket watch |
locally made bottles by Markhams of Maldon and |
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WW-2 call-up letter for Ruben Johnson |
receipt for funeral arrangements from Charles Mann, undertaker |
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