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Prof Tom Williamson has been out and about at some of the most fascinating orchards our surveyors have uncovered - and picking some apple identification skills too!
This autumn I have spent several wonderful days in the company of Gerry Barnes, historian, and Bob Lever, fruit identifier (amongst other things!), looking at orchards across the region. Our aim was to examine a range of sites, of different types and ages, in order to get some idea of the kinds of fruit varieties which might be typical of different kinds, and periods, of planting. We also hoped to get better information about just how old the trees growing in particular locations might be, and how long they survive. We chose the sample sites by examining the many excellent field reports that have been pouring in to the office, from all across the region. In this and the next few ‘blogs’ I will briefly describe some of the places we went (without naming them, to avoid data protection and privacy ‘issues’). I will also discuss some of the information gleaned and issues raised.
I will begin with a large old country house in Norfolk, which has a walled garden containing a group of 24 neatly-planted apple trees and, to the south, a large old orchard containing a further 27 old trees. Aerial photographs show that the former group must have been planted after 1946, because the area they occupy was then a vegetable ground. The trees, planted on semi-dwarfing rootstocks, comprise Bramley Seedlings, alternating with Laxton’s varieties – Epicure, Superb and Fortune (and with a single Ellison’s Orange). All the trees appear to have been planted at the same time, perhaps in the 1950s or early 60s: the Bramleys, always vigorous, have circumferences of 1.4 – 1.5 metres; the other trees, mainly 0.75 – 1 metre. They look like a job lot from Laxton’s nursery in Bedfordshire!
The orchard outside the walled garden is more interesting – it is full of veteran fruit trees in varying states of picturesque decay. Most are apple trees, and while some are standards most have been ‘bush’ planted, and have multiple stems rising from a low base. This form of planting has accentuated subsequent decay, for many of the stems have collapsed, with some regenerating as ‘phoenix’ trees. The orchard contains a much more diverse range of varieties than the kitchen garden, some not yet identified. Examples of Bramley’s Seedling, Crimson Bramley’s, Warner’s King, Rosemary Russet, Lane’s Prince Albert, Blenheim Orange, Allington Pippin, Court of Wick, Lord Lambourne, and Lord Suffield are all present, together with a cherry and a single cobnut. It is a wonderful, atmospheric place, rich in wildlife – but it may not be quite as old as it seems. The 1946 aerial photographs suggest very strongly that, ancient though it now looks, it was then quite young. The trees were small and planted in a neat ‘quincunx’ pattern. They were probably, although not certainly, planted after rather than before the First World War.
The contrast in the two areas of planting is interesting, with the orchard displaying the kind of range of varieties typical of older country houses. It is a ‘gentleman’s collection’, although not characterised by the kinds of rarities which we find in some country house orchards. What is also noteworthy is that, in spite of its ancient appearance, the orchard almost certainly contains no trees more than a century old. We sometimes, perhaps, forget how quickly fruit trees age. Lastly, the manner in which the trees were initially pruned and managed has had a determining influence on their later development, leading to their often split and fallen condition.
Just one place, albeit with two separate areas of trees. Next time, some more orchards, and some more lessons we can learn.