Exhibition: Feeding London the forgotten market gardens

A new exhibition will celebrate the long history of market gardening in Middlesex. The exhibition, co-produced by staff and volunteers, will trace the growth, peak and decline of the production of fruit, vegetables and flowers in the area.

It will reveal the rapid and radical change of land use arising from London’s ever-growing population, from the need to increase food production in the 1800s, to the demand for housing for the new ‘commuter classes’ in the 20th century.

An invaluable collection of the memories of local people who worked in the nurseries and market gardens of Hounslow, Isleworth, Brentford, Twickenham and Hampton, right up until the last days of the industry in the 1970s, will be shared.

This exhibition has been created by Jam Yesterday Jam Tomorrow, a project by the Environment Trust and is part of a new public archive achieved through voluntary research and community engagement, which will ensure that the history of market gardens is preserved for posterity. Jam Yesterday Jam Tomorrow is a Heritage Lottery-funded, three-year project of the Environment Trust for Richmond.