Where once were gardens
Census returns are first-hand accounts of local life at a given point in time. They are, therefore, an accurate view of the past and of interest to academic and amateur historians alike.
![Census - gardener](/image/5045/Census---gardener/gi-responsive__100.png?m=1613045428747)
One of the principal firms was Wild and Robbins, whose farm lay near the Sipson crossroads. The business began when Thomas Wild took on Rowland Richard Robbins as a junior partner. The 1901 census shows them in neighbouring houses - Wild, aged 53, and Robbins, aged 28. By 1931, they were growing a variety of vegetables, from cabbages, leeks and potatoes to kale, marrows, spinach and 'chokes'.
East of the same crossroads in 1911, Frederick Jonathan Smith is listed as a jam manufacturer at Wall Garden Farm. His father moved there after becoming bankrupt and set up a jam factory to make use of the area's fruit.