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Again in 1853, as well as the land now known as the 'Parish Acre', the parish was given a portion of Loxton Common; land which was just south of the village on the road that leads from Bleadon to Cross ending at the road junction to Christon. (map 1).
A condition of the enclosure was that the portion of the road on the north of the common was to be widened from twenty to thirty feet. The lane on the edge of the village known as Ham Lane was wider where it joined the Bleadon to Cross road. Consequently, a roughly triangular shaped area of land along the main road and stretching down Ham Lane containing about two acres was allotted to the Churchwardens and Overseers of the Poor. (map 2). The land was to be used as allotments for the labouring poor and was subject to a rent charge of £1 per annum to be paid to the Rector of the Parish. The maintenance of Ham Lane was to be the responsibility of the owners and proprietors of the allotments and subsequent repairs were made with stone quarried from the Parish Acre. Two other portions of the common were sold to raise funds to pay for the costs of the enclosure.
Sometime before 1917 it would seem that Erasmus Galton, the Lord of the Manor, took over control of the allotment land and the £1 rent was paid to him. In 1934 the Charity Commission suggested that the current Lord of the Manor, Major John Lethbridge, pay the rent charge of £1, although they did not say to whom. Major Lethbridge replied that it was the first time he had been asked to pay a rent charge and pointed out that Somerset County Council had requisitioned some of the land and widened the road to forty feet and added grass verges.
The land was frequently waterlogged and the tenants were provided with drainpipes and the drainage ditch (rhyne) at the side of the allotments was cleaned out. This also served to prevent trespassers.
In 1920 the Parish Meeting was approached by the District Council to sell a portion of the allotment land to build Workmen's cottages. The parish councillors thought that the site was unsuitable but were willing to sell the land if they could get permission from the Charity Commissioners to do so. They did not get the required permission.
There were twelve allotments and in their early days they were cultivated for vegetables. During the 1920's interest in them fell and it was decided to lay down six consecutive pieces to permanent grass. They were rented out to a single tenant for thirty shillings with the condition that if they were ever needed for cultivation the tenant would give them up.
In 1939 an inquiry was made to see if the parish council would consider selling part of the allotments for building. If a good price was offered the council considered that it might be wise to sell the land because very few of them were being cultivated. There was no further action on this because World War II broke out and all house building was suspended. By 1948 Mr. Ham of Bow Farm was using all of the allotments for grazing.
In the 1950's there were two tenants, one holding nine plots and the other two, and in 1958 it was decided to ask the permission of the Charity Commissioners to sell the land for about £200. The Loxton estate was prepared to buy them. No further action was taken until 1960 when permission was again requested. The reasons being given that no allotments had been cultivated since 1948, and that the rent of £2 7s 6d per annum received was not enough to cover the costs of maintaining the fences and gates and payment of £1 per annum to the Lord of the Manor. It was suggested that the proceeds of the sale should be used to benefit the whole parish. Before the sale outline planning permission was requested for residential development on the allotments which was refused, and in 1964 the allotments were sold at auction to Messrs Ham Bros. of Bow Farm for £275.
The profits of the sale were invested. It was suggested by Lloyds Bank that it was invested in 5% Defence Bonds but, when this was put to the Charity Commissioners they suggested that their Investment Fund would be a better choice. The latter option was taken.
The allotments have now disappeared and have merged into the neighbouring field.
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