Bustardthorpe Allotment Association is a self managed site based on the outskirts of York next to the racecourse and currently has 295 plots and 302 members. The original site was set up in 1908.


Bustardthorpe Allotments was successful in its application to the Charities Commission to become a registered charity in January 2025 and as a result was re-named Bustardthorpe Allotments Association Charitable Incorporated Organisation (BAACIO).

About BAACIO

Our charitable status is based on environmental objectives providing a natural space for local residents, many of whom do not have access to open spaces where they live.


There are between 5 and 11 trustees all of whom are volunteers.


Please click here to read BAACIO's Objects and Constitution.

Bustardthorpe's history

Osbert Bustard is farming land northeast of Middlethorpe Manor.

Sir Miles Wilstrop of Tockwith acquires Bustardthorpe Manor.

Bustard Hall and nearby fields purchased by York City Council and leased out as agricultural land.

Bishopthorpe Rd and South Bank residents petitioned the city council for provision of allotments and formed the South Bank Allotment Holders Association.

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Bustardthorpe became a self-managed site independent of York City Council.

Bustardthorpe Allotments Association became a Charitable Incorporated Organisation

Read more here - History and Further Reading.


More recently, Bustardthorpe is mentioned on page 22 of Social reform and allotment gardening in twentieth century York by Ross J. Wilson. There is also a more detailed account on pages 14-21, 42-43 and 48 of York's Allotment Heritage, also by Ross Wilson.

Events and News


Tribute - William Robert Hammond

16th November 1932 - 28th October 2025

The Gardener

The gardener, with his spade and hoe,

Works in the sun and rain and snow;

He digs and plants and waters too,

And watches over what he grew.

He tends the flowers with care,

And prunes the branches here and there;

He weeds the beds and mends the fences,

And gathers up the fallen senses.

He is a lover of the earth

And all the wonders it gives birth;

He is a lover of the bloom

And all the fragrant, sweet perfume.

The gardener is a patient man,

He works from dawn as much he can;

And when the day is done and he’s through,

He looks with pride at what he grew.

So let us all be gardeners fair

And tend to life with love and care,

And watch the seeds we plant come through,

To bloom and flourish, strong and true.


Collective Sharehouse

As part of our supporting the Collective Sharehouse charity there is a filing cabinet under the verandah table where donations can be left. Donations can be surplus fruit and vegetables during the growing season and grocery, personal hygiene items etc at any time of the year. These donations are very gratefully received and we deliver them to Clements Hall once or twice a week.