Great Depression Gardens – Scotland

Allotments for the unemployed on the Garscube Estate, 10 Jan 1933. The estate belonged to Sir Archibald Campbell (1852-1941). Photo: Glasgow City Council, Glasgow Museums. Larger image here.

Glasgow, Scotland

During the Great Depression of the late 1920s and early 1930s, tens of thousands of Glaswegian men lost their jobs. Although insured workers could claim unemployment benefit it was not equivalent to a living wage; for example in 1931 a man could just claim 15 shillings a week (75p). By 1933 over 120,000 Glaswegians were living on public assistance, and diseases associated with poverty had increased. Allotments offered them the means to improve their diets by growing their own vegetables, and of saving scarce cash for other necessities. The University of Glasgow purchased the Garscube estate in 1948.

Allotments at Corkerhill, probably during the interwar period.
Photo: Glasgow City Council, Glasgow Museums. Larger version here.

Under the terms of the Allotments (Scotland) Act 1892, local authorities had a duty to provide land for allotments. Prior to that date, however, many poor people in industrial areas had sought out land on which to grow vegetables to supplement their diets. Shop-bought food was often expensive and poor in quality, so home-grown fruit and vegetables made a great difference to a family’s health. Allotments came to have a standard size of around 300 square yards, which was sufficient to feed a family of four throughout the year.

Allotments were particularly popular during the First and Second World Wars when there were restrictions on what people could buy in the shops. Their popularity declined from the end of the 1950s, but in recent years there has been an upsurge in interest, fuelled by various food scares and the rise in popularity of organic food.

See ‘The Glasgow Story’ web site here.

Also see: Leslie Heimer’s Depression Relief Gardens: 1930-1938 at ‘Sprouts in the Sidewalk’