Our History
The Calthorpe inner city community garden was born in 1983 and has been thriving ever since. Help us to create more history and add yourself to Calthorpe’s legacy
Our History
From the beginning of the 19th century the site of the Calthorpe Community Garden had predominantly been leased to Thomas Cubitt, an eminent builder responsible for a substantial part of the construction in London.
During the 1960s the land was purchased by the Lyon Group who had planning permission for a 70,000 square foot office development. However they went bankrupt just after they had put the office foundations on site, so Camden acquired the land. In 1980 they prepared to sell the land for offices, based on the previous outdated planning permission.
Local residents were concerned about the impact on their lives of such a large development on their doorstep and there followed a local campaign which included petitions, lobbying councilors and sending a delegation to Camden Council. The community’s efforts were rewarded and in June 1983 when Camden allocated money to develop the site for gardens, play space and under fives activities for the residents of Kings Cross. In 1984 the Calthorpe Community Garden became a charity and a company limited by guarantee.
Growth and Change: a documentary by Ruth Cebrian
Since 1984, Calthorpe has been supporting its diverse community in a variety of ways, including providing sports and education to its users. With a positive impact on the environment, we have ingrained sustainable practices into all that we do. Check out our 30th anniversary video here to find out what has been happening over the past four decades!
Camden New Journal article: Organic Growth
As the Calthorpe Project celebrates 40 years, it’s on the lookout for contributors to help chronicle its history
Calthorpe Community Garden celebrates its 40th anniversary on September 28. If you would like to contribute to its history project contact calthorpememories@gmail.com
Support Us
Our community centre and garden is a hub for social and therapeutic horticulture, sports and community support. We work with volunteers and local residents individually and in groups so they have access to green space according to their needs. Open 7 days a week, we achieve our aims through the following programmes:
• A horticultural volunteering and training programme for older people, people with learning disabilities and mental health issues as well as for the general public.
• Sustainable food growing incorporating an innovative closed loop food cycle and food waste recycling demonstration site, allotments for local residents, hosting a food cooperative and providing community lunches twice a week.
• Community Arts & Crafts Activities for our elderly users and other community members.
• Supervised arts and environmental activities for children aged 0-14 and their families during weekends and school holidays.
• Sports development including football coaching and training for disabled people, children, women and young people and walking football for older people.
Please donate to help us maintain the garden open and run activities for the community.
