The Site

Smitham Allotment Society is a self-managed site on Chipstead Valley Road, Coulsdon, and Surrey in the south of the London Borough of Croydon. The land for the site was donated to the people of Croydon by the landowner in 1908 and so fruit and vegetables have now been grown on the 30 plots there for over a century. One of the plots is maintained by the children of Smitham Primary School who grow a variety of produce on raised beds. It lies on a south facing slope between the houses on Chipstead Valley Road and the Tattenham Corner railway line. The soil is a sandy loam on chalk so drainage is good but the soil is hungry.