Compton Allotments near Guildford in Surrey has grown from perhaps a dozen active plots to over one hundred in five years.

One reason for this growth in activity has been the generous support provided by the Parish Council when they voted to pay for deer fencing; before this the deer happily ate just about everything that was grown. We still have a few rabbits and the badgers who seem to enjoy sweetcorn but the bulk of the crops are now eaten by humans.

The site has been actively cultivated since the late 1800s and has a lovely open aspect surrounded by woodland on the edge of the Loseley Estate. The soil is sandy but very fertile having been for many centuries a silty shallow swampy lake bed. Nearby Polsted Manor ("the house by the pool"), New Pond Road which is a kind of causeway, and the streams and ponds around the site all attest to its watery past. The land probably became drained after the 1764 opening of the Godalming Navigation branch of the 1653 Wey Navigation. Even in a dry spell water is not too far below so very little watering is required.

The healthy influx of new plot holders makes our association active and full of new faces taking on plots of all sizes. We have livestock too - chickens and pigs used as "green ploughs" to clear areas untouched since the 1950s. We talk with but are not affiliated to nearby allotment associations in Guidford, Farncombe and Godalming. Most of our plotholders live closeby.

The noticeboard linked from this page gives contacts for further information.

November 2009 we have been able to start five free plots with new tenants from the waiting list. There is obviously a natural churn as circumstances and expectations change and what may seem a great idea on TV turns out to involve digging in the rain!