Historical research
These pages are the result of a one-year project to find out 'what we've had and what's been lost' in terms of orchards in Luton. Funded by Heritage Lottery, volunteers helped to search historical maps, scour archives, survey satellite images and venture out to locations to piece together Luton's fruit growing history.
How this project came about
The community gardeners from Edible High Town worked hard to keep the orchard in People's Park alive. Volunteers watered, weeded and mulched - but it could seem like an uphill struggle at times. We wondered how people in other areas look after their community orchards and started investigating.... From there the Luton Orchards project idea came into being.
What we found - Luton orchards in numbers through the centuries
Orchards would've existed in Luton for a long time. The earliest mention we found was in 1587, and the 1842 Tithe Map shows 29 entries for orchards. Read more about how the numbers grew and fell from there in this summary.
See Luton orchards in numbers
Interviews and visits
Volunteer orchard detectives tipped off about orchard locations and collected many orchard memories. We visited the people who told us about traces of these orchards that still exist today, and you can read more about their stories.
Read about interviews and visits
Stories and examples
The curious story of the Limbury sugar fraud
Gas Works: most unlikely orchard ever?
Limbury and Leagrave: orchard hub along the railway
2 Farmers and a Beekeeper: Stockingstone Road Cluster
How we used maps
The most fruitful sources for our research were the Tithe Map from 1842 and Ordnance Survey Maps from between 1878 and the 1960s. The maps were so central to the work that we've got a whole chapter about them. Read more about how we used maps for our research
Learn how we used maps
Method, tools and technology
It all started with a simple spreadsheet. But to dig deeper into historical data, we used Geometric Information System (GIS) software QGis, which allowed us layering historical map data to research the progression over time. We had help from an Orchard Biodiversity Officer and hours of fun pouring over historical maps.
Tools and technology
Thank you orchard people!
Reserarching the history of orchards in Luton was a team effort, and one aim of the project was to get local people excited about all things fruit trees. People helped with scouring the archives, reviewed satellite images, roped in neighbours and relatives and told their stories and memories of orchards. Many Luton organisations helped get the word out, and we even helped plant a small orchard.
Read who helped with the project and what partnerships are coming out of it.