Alan Silvester

Plotlands refers to small pieces of land laid out in regular plots on which a number of self-built settlements were established. Characterised by the fact that they were largely built outside the conventional planning system, Plotlands were tolerated by local councils but eventually replaced with new towns and garden suburbs through compulsory purchase orders. Reaching its peak in the period between the 1920s and 1930s, the Plotland phenomena was interrupted by WWII and the planning regulations that followed.

The result of a specific set of circumstances, Plotlands were a peculiarly English phenomena, tied in large part to the desire to own a piece of land, no matter how small. The agricultural decline of the 1870s, brought on in part by increased imports from British colonies, resulted in farms becoming bankrupt and their land being sold off cheaply in small plots by developers. Farmers in marginal areas that had vulnerable sea-side locations or where the soil was not very fertile, such as the clay soils of Essex, were worst hit.

These self-built, self-reliant settlements were often without basic services such as water and sanitation, with the owners having to petition councils, and to sometimes contribute financially towards their provision, which lead to a strong sense of community. Due to the relaxed planning regulations, the Plotlands took on a character of their own, some converted boats and railway carriages, whilst others built summerhouses; anything from discarded bits of mahogany joinery to sections of garden trellis were used. Over time people from these settlements were relocated to new towns or the areas upgraded so that they have slowly become part of the encroaching suburbia.

Extract from spatialagency.net authored by Tatjana Schneider and Jeremy Till. 

Jonathan Meades on Plotlands.