We have a field at Spong Drove, Willingham, Cambridgeshire that is available to rent and is within easy reach of Cambridge, Huntingdon, St Neots, Peterborough, Ely, the M11, A1 and A14.
Part of the field is being planted with trees, soft fruit, herbs and flowers and has a number of beehives. The remainder totaling 5.25 acres is available to rent as large allotments as a whole or in part.
Council allotments are typically 10 poles in size, which is 250 square metres or 300 square yards. In St Neots, West Cambridgeshire they cost £18 per year and in Cambridge city they are £34 per year. We charge £300 per acre per year which is the equivalent of £18.60 for a 10 pole allotment. You can have whatever size you like, subject to a minimum of half an acre (i.e. minimum of £150 per year). Or to put it another way, these allotments are at least 8 times the size of a council allotment and almost the lowest price per acre in the county.
Note that this land is strictly for agricultural /
horticultural purposes only and there is a High Court Injunction to enforce
that. (There are similar injunctions covering most of the land in the area).
The field was growing wheat in 2008 and fallow in 2009, and it can be seen in
late 2008 here,
here and
here.
The pictures have been taken turning from left to right while standing in the
entrance with the road behind the camera. Around the edge of the field you
can see Willow, Elm, Oak, Hawthorn plus Wild Roses (rosehips at this time of
year), Blackberry and Blackthorn (Sloe) bushes. We are lots of pheasants on the field.
All sporting rights are included. A survey of the birds has listed
Blackbirds, Blackcaps, Blue Tits, Carrion Crows, Chaffinches, Collared Doves,
Dunnocks, Goldfinches, Great Tits, Greenfinches, Green Woodpeckers, Linnets,
Pheasants, Reed Buntings, Starlings, Stock Doves, Swallows, Whitethroats,
Woodpigeons, Wrens and Yellowhammers.
We have installed a lockable gate that you can see here.
To see where Spong Drove is, click here. It's about 7 miles from the end of the M11; 10 miles from Cambridge; 15 miles from Huntingdon and 20 miles from the A1(M). Zoom in and you can see that the field is only about 1/2 mile outside the village of Willingham and has a public highway (Spong Drove) going past it. Spong Drove is only a single track road but it has a good tarmac surface, you can see it here and obviously you do not need a 4x4 to reach this land. The entrance to the field is just to the left of the car. An alternative map can be found by clicking here. On some maps, Spong Drove is also called Sponge Drove.
For a closer look at the location, footpaths, etc, click here for the Ordnance Survey website and use Get-A-Map. Put Grid Reference TL413712 as the place name and you will get a map showing Spong Drove and the village of Willingham. Where it says "WILLINGHAM CP", the field is the one under the first "L".
To see the plan of the field click here. The part available for rent is hatched. (the white piece at the southern end is in use as above). There are posts whose tops are painted fluorescent yellow to make it easier to appreciate the size. When you rent part of the land it will be marked out with posts. A Right of Way will be created, if necessary, so that you can get to your bit from the public road. The Right of Way will be 5 metres wide (plenty for car/trailer) and marked with red topped posts.