Guide to Fruit Planted in Chepstow Streets
Apples
Adam’s Pearmain
Raised in the early C19th, possibly in Norfolk. Was a highly regarded
dessert apple in the C19th, grown commercially. Very attractive dark
red conical apples which were popular with greengrocers for window
displays. Has a dry yellow flesh with an aromatic, nutty flavour. A late
keeper.
Type:
Season of
Use:
Location:
Dessert
Rootstock: MM106
Pick Early October , Use from November to March
Wyebank Road, Fairview.
Ashmead’s Kernel
Raised around 1700 by a Dr Ashmead of Gloucester. Apples have a
poor greenish appearance but fruit develops a sweet and aromatic
flavour when ripe in December.
Type:
Season of
Use:
Location:
Dessert
Rootstock: M26
A mid-season eater. Pick early October, Use from December to January.
Caernarfon Way (2), Riverside Park/Bandstand, Castle Dell, Hollins
Garden, Palmer Centre, Garden City playing field,
Bardsey Apple (or Afal Ynys Enlli)
Bardsey Island (Ynys Enlli) is situated off the Llyn peninsular of North
Wales. A former place of pilgrimage, there are various historical sites
there. The island is also known as a stop-over for migrating birds. The
apple was discovered in 1998 by an ornithologist who was using a mist
net to catch passing birds in order to ring them. To bait his net he
picked some windfall apples from under a gnarled old tree growing up
the side of one of the island's houses called Plas Bach. He noticed that
the fruit and the tree were free of disease, a very unusual occurrence
in North Wales. Graft wood was taken from the tree and was
distributed. It has a lemon aroma and sweet flesh. The performance of
the variety in a site in a more favoured climate such as that of
Chepstow has still to be recorded. This is a mid-season eater for use in
October and November.
Type:
Season of
Use:
Location:
Dessert
Rootstock: M26
Mid-season. Pick late September, Use October-November.
Bulwark Ave/Thornwell Rd (2), Fairview, Kingsmark Ave.
Page 1 of 13
Blenheim Orange
Discovered c.1740 growing against the boundary wall of Blenheim
Palace Park in Oxfordshire. A contemporary account states “thousands
thronged from all parts to gaze upon its ruddy ripening orange burden;
then gardeners came in the spring-tide to select the much coveted
scions.” This became a famous variety, grown world-wide in the c19th
and still well-known in many countries.
The tree produces large, flat apples with a rich nutty flavour, to be
picked late September and eaten October-December. It is not a late
keeper. During September and October it can also be used as a
cooking apple and makes very good baked apples and a richlyflavoured apple sauce. In France it is known as Benedictin.
Type:
Season of
Use:
Location:
Dessert / Culinary
Rootstock: M25 (!)
Pick late September, Use September – December.
Palmer Centre
Bramley’s Seedling
Raised circa 1810 by a Miss Brailsford in her cottage garden in
Southwell, Nottinghamshire. The variety first came to public attention
when publicised by a nurseryman in 1857, by which time the cottage
was owned by a Mr Bramley, after whom the variety was named. From
the 1880s onwards the tree became widely known and grown
commercially. The original tree blew down in the early 1900s, but a
new shoot grew up from the old trunk to form a new tree, which still
survives. This variety grows into a very large spreading tree. This
variety retains its popularity as a very long-keeping cooking apple and
in 2007 formed 95% of commercially grown cooking apples in the UK.
Type:
Season of
Use:
Location:
Culinary
Rootstock: M26, MM106
A long keeper. Pick early October, Use November - March
Fairview, Chepstow School (Kieren’s tree), Castle Dell (mm106)
Brith Mawr
Re-discovered in 2001, this is a cooking apple once popular in the
South Wales area but of which little history remains. It was exhibited
at a national Fruit Conference in 1934.
Type:
Culinary
Season of
Use:
Location:
Mid-season
Rootstock: MM106 or MM111 (not
known which)
Deans’ hill
Page 2 of 13
Brownlees’ Russet
Introduced around 1848 by a Mr William Brownlees of Hemel
Hempstead, Herts. This variety is intensely flavoured when ripe.
Although it has the brownish-green colour indicative of russet apples,
it does not have the nutty typical russet flavour. It was valued in the
C19th as a late-keeping dessert variety and for its beautiful blossom.
Type:
Season of
Use:
Location:
Dessert
Rootstock: M26
Pick mid-October, use from December until February.
Hollins Garden
Cadwalader
A cider apple from the Brecon area, still widely grown. It produces a
single-variety cider.
Type:
Season of
Use:
Location:
Cider (Bittersweet)
Rootstock:
Riverside Park/Bandstand
Catshead
An ancient and remarkable English variety, first described in 1629.
Viewed in profile the apple looks like a cat’s head, hence the name. It
was well-known and widely grown until the 19th century; its box-like
shape made it convenient to be made into dumplings for farmers to
take into the fields. It was traditionally grown for market in orchards
beside the Severn Estuary in Gloucestershire.
Type:
Season of
Use:
Location:
Culinary
Rootstock: M26
A mid season cooker. Pick early October, Use October to January
Kingsmark Ave,
Channel Beauty
Raised in the early C20th by a Mr Evans of Mumbles near Swansea,
from a Cox’s Orange Pippin seed. This variety was popular in South
Wales in the first half of the C20th. The ‘Channel’ to which the name
refers is the Bristol Channel.
Type:
Season of
Use:
Location:
Dessert
Rootstock: M26
Pick early October, Use late October to January.
Fairview, Garden City playing field.
Page 3 of 13
Cissy
Raised in the late C18th by a Mr Tamplin of Malpas, near Newport. It
was distributed by his sister, Cissy, after whom it was named. It was
popular in Monmouth market in the C19th. A crimson-flushed early
eater that should be eaten fresh. Does not keep.
Type:
Season of
Use:
Location:
Dessert
Rootstock: M26
Pick early September, Use September.
Caernarfon Way, Fairview, Castle Dell (MM106), Garden city playing
field, Kingsmark Ave, Deans Hill
Cornish Aromatic
A Cornish variety known since the early C19th. Grown in other
countries such as Australia and does well in a warm climate. Bright red
flush on apples, which can have hint of pear-drop flavour, as well as
spiciness, but can be disappointing in a poor year. A late apple that
needs to mature in store after picking.
Type:
Season of
Use:
Location:
Dessert
Rootstock: M26
Pick mid-October, Use December –February.
Dean’s Hill
Cornish Gilliflower
Found in a cottage garden near Truro, Cornwall, around 1800. It
became prized by the Victorians for its rich aromatic taste, with a
perfumed, floral quality. Described in 1830 as “the best apple that is
known..” and in 1875 as “the finest variety of all..” Named Gilliflower
because the flowers are clove scented.
Type:
Season of
Use:
Location:
Dessert
Rootstock: MM106
Pick October, Use November - January
Boverton House, Wyedean School
Court of Wick
Arose in the C18th or earlier at Wick near Yatton, Somerset. It was
widely grown in the C19th especially in the West Country. It crops very
heavily in alternate years. Also a makes a very good single varietal
cider.
Type:
Season of
Use:
Location:
Dessert
Rootstock: MM106
Pick late September, Use October-December
Wyebank Road (2), Boverton House
Page 4 of 13
Cox’s Orange Pippin
Raised around 1825 by a Richard Cox at Slough in Buckinghamshire.
Introduced by the nursery trade in 1850. Voted ‘best dessert apples of
the south’ at the 1883 fruit congress, and was widely planted in
commercial orchards in Kent. However it was so prone to disease that
it fell out of favour a commercial variety. It was re-introduced as a
market variety in early C20th when chemical fungicides became
available. Despite its excellent flavour it is very disease-prone and
difficult to grow well; supermarket Cox’s are still heavily sprayed.
Type:
Season of
Use:
Location:
Dessert
Rootstock: MM106
Pick September/mid-October, Use mid-October to early January.
Boverton House, Wyedean School, Fairview
Crimson Quoining (or Crimson Queening)
An old variety from Herefordshire. Apples are dark red, the flesh has a
sweet scented floral quality. Not a long keeper. The word ‘Quoining’ is
derived from the French word coing, which means quince.
Type:
Season of
Use:
Location:
Dessert
Rootstock: M26
Pick early September, Use September – October.
Caernarfon Way (2)
Cummy Norman
A cider apple originally from Radnorshire (now part of Powys). Was
included in a list in 1899 of vintage apples and pears best suited to
Herefordshire and the districts adjoining.
Type:
Season of
Use:
Location:
Cider (bittersweet)
No information
Rootstock:
Fiarview, Castle Dell (MM106),
Egremont Russet
First recorded in 1872, its early origin is unclear. It was possibly raised
at Lord Egremont’s estate at Petworth in Sussex in the early C19th.
Has typical; brownish-yellow russet colouration to its skin and sweet
nutty flavour. Has been grown commercially from the 1960s onwards
because of public demand for its flavour. Popular in gardens and easy
to grow.
Type:
Season of
Use:
Location:
Dessert
Rootstock: MM106
A mid-season eater. Pick late Sept/early Oct , Use Oct-Dec.
Castle Dell, Garden City playing field
Page 5 of 13
Frederick
A well-known Monmouthshire cider variety. Skin colour yellow,
extensively flushed and striped dark red. Makes a good single-varietal
cider, dark red in colour. Juice is not astringent. Also makes excellent
apple jelly.
Type:
Season of
Use:
Location:
Cider (full sharp)
Rootstock: MM106/MM111
Pick mid-October, Use mid-October (press juice for cider making) does
not store long.
Tenby Drive (MM106), Fairview (3), Castle Dell
George Cave
Raised in 1923 by a Mr George cave of Dovercourt, Essex, and was
named in 1945. Has a strong flavour, more distinctive than that of
most early apple varieties. Should be picked at eaten straight from the
tree in early to mid August. Does not keep.
Type:
Season of
Use:
Location:
Dessert
Pick August, Use August.
Rootstock: MM106
Lewis Way, Burnt Barn
Golden Pippin
An ancient variety, already well-known by the C17th, when it was
described as “the greatest and best of all sorts of pippins”. Has a
strong fruity taste. Formerly used to make pippin jelly, tarts, and
cider. President George Washington specially ordered it for his new
garden in Virginia, but it was found not to thrive in the USA.
Type:
Season of
Use:
Location:
Dessert
Rootstock: MM106
Pick early October, Use October - January
Chepstow School, Wyebank Road
Grenadier
Origin unknown, first recorded in 1862. Was exhibited at the Crystal
Palace Exhibition in 1863. Still widely available as an early maturing
cooking apple. Not a long keeper.
Type:
Season of
Use:
Location:
Culinary
Rootstock: M26
Pick mid August, Use August-September.
Fiarview, Palmer Centre
Page 6 of 13
Herefordshire Russet
Despite its name it is a modern variety raised in Kent by apple breeder
Hugh Ermen and released commercially in 2003. It has a Cox-like
flavour with a yellow-brown russet coloration to the skin, and keeps
well.
Type:
Season of
Use:
Location:
Dessert
Rootstock: M9
Pick October, Use October - January
Wyedean School, Chepstow School
Hope Cottage Seedling
Raised around 1900 by a Mrs Oakley of Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire.
An early season apple.
Type:
Season of
Use:
Location:
Dessert
Rootstock: M26
Pick early September, Use September-October
Caernarfon Way (2).
King Coffee
A Worcestershire eating apple. Produces large dark red-flushed apples,
supposedly with a hint of coffee flavour. A mid-season variety, leave to
mature in store before eating.
Type:
Season of
Use:
Location:
Dessert
Rootstock: M26
Pick early October, Use November - December
Palmer Centre, Castle Dell, Hollins Garden, Deans Hill (2).
King’s Acre pippin
A very late keeper, regarded as one of the best late desert apples.
Introduced in 1899 by king’s Acre Nursery of Hereford. Large fruits,
with a dull appearance; richly flavoured with crisp juicy flesh.
Type:
Season of
Use:
Location:
Dessert
Rootstock: MM106
Pick mid-October, Use December - March
Tenby Drive
Page 7 of 13
Kingston Black
Believed to have originated in the village of Kingston near Taunton in
the late C19th. Produces small apples, flushed dark maroon. Produces
a full-bodied cider with a distinctive flavour. Was widely planted in the
West Country.
Type:
Season of
Use:
Location:
Cider (bittersharp)
Rootstock:
Harvest early November. Press juice for cider.
Fairview
Lemon Pippin
First mentioned in 1744 but probably much older. Its origin is confused
and it may have been introduced from Normandy. Fruits are lemoncoloured and shaped. They are quite sweet with some acidity. This
variety was grown commercially for London markets in the C19th. It is
excellent for making tarts and jelly. A late keeper.
Type:
Season of
Use:
Location:
Dessert, culinary
Rootstock: M26
Pick early October, Use December/March
Caernarfon Way (2)
Lord Lambourne
Introduced in 1907 by Laxtons Nurseries. A cross between James
Grieve and Worcester Pearmain, two well-known dessert varieties. The
fruits have a sweet juicy, crisp flesh. This variety is still widely grown
in gardens. An early to mid season eater.
Type:
Season of
Use:
Location:
Dessert
Rootstock: M26, MM106
Pick mid September, Use late September to November.
Garden City playing field (2)
Machen
A red-coloured eating and cooking apple from this area, possibly
named after the village of Machen between Newport and Caerphilly.
Type:
Season of
Use:
Location:
Dessert, culinary
Rootstock: M26
Pick September, Use September.
Garden City playing field
Page 8 of 13
Mannington’s Pearmain
Arose around 1770 from cider pulp thrown under the hedge of a
blacksmith, Mr Turley of Uckfield, Sussex. In 1847 it was sent to the
London Horticultural Society by his grandson, John Mannington.
Aromatic with nutty overtones.
Type:
Season of
Use:
Location:
Dessert
Rootstock: MM111
Pick mid October, Use November - February.
Fairview
Meridien
Developed by the East Malling research Station, Kent, in the 1970s
and released in 2000. Very juicy with well-balanced flavour. Can be
difficult to tell when it is fully ripe – do not pick too early, leave to
hang on tree into October. A long keeper.
Type:
Season of
Use:
Location:
Dessert
Rootstock: M9
Pick mid-Oct, Use October – March.
Chepstow School, Wyedean School
Morgan Sweet
Originated in Somerset in the C18th. A large greenish-yellow apple
which produces a fruity cider. Fruits produce a high yield of juice which
ferments rapidly producing cider by Xmas. Crops heavily in alternate
years. Can also be eaten fresh as a dessert apple. Was formerly grown
in Somerset and Gloucestershire, where plantings made in the early
1900s were intended to supply to the mining communities of South
Wales.
Type:
Season of
Use:
Location:
Dessert / Cider (sweet)
Rootstock: M9 or MM111
Pick late August-September. Use September.
Fairview
Pitmaston Pine Apple
Raised around 1785 at the estate of Lord Foley, Stoke Edith,
Herefordshire. A seedling of Golden pippin. Produces small yellow
apples finely netted with russet, with a very sweet flavour with
overtones of pineapple.
Type:
Season of
Use:
Location:
Dessert
Rootstock: M25
Pick early October, Use late October to December.
Fairview
Page 9 of 13
Red Devil
Raised in 1975 by fruit breeder Hugh Ermen in Kent. Scarlet coloured
with a strong fruity taste, pink coloured flesh, and a hint of strawberry
flavour.
Type:
Season of
Use:
Location:
Dessert
Rootstock: M27
Pick Late September , Use September-October
Wyedean School, Chepstow School
Red Falstaff
A mid season dessert apple, not a late keeper. Raised in 1965 at East
Malling Research station, Kent. Fruity, crisp and juicy. Flowers are
frost resistant. Popular in gardens and easy to grow.
Type:
Season of
Use:
Location:
Dessert
Rootstock: M9, MM106
Pick early October, Use October – December.
Chepstow School (M9), Wyebank Road (MM106)
Red Windsor
A red-skinned ‘sport’ (natural mutation) of a variety called Alkmene,
raised in Germany in the 1930s at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institut from a
seedling of Cox’s Orange Pippin. The red sport was found in England
and launched in the 1980s, re-named for the UK market.
Type:
Season of
Use:
Location:
Dessert
Rootstock: M9
Pick late September , Use September - October
Chepstow School, Wyedean school
Rosemary Russet
First described 1831 by a nurseryman from Brentford, Middlesex. Has
an intense sweet-sharp taste. A late apple that needs to mature in
store after picking.
Type:
Season of
Use:
Location:
Dessert
Rootstock: M26,
Pick early to mid October, Use form late November until March.
Hollins Gardens
Page 10 of 13
Severn Bank
A cider apple collected in the 1970s by Bulmers of Hereford from an
orchard in Much Marcle, Herefordshire. There are however a number of
varieties of this name known in the Severn valley area.
Type:
Season of
Use:
Location:
Cider (sharp)
Harvest October.
Rootstock: MM106
?
Sunset
Raised in 1918 from a seed of Cox’s Orange Pippin. Named in 1933.
Small early aromatic apples, popular in gardens and easy to grow.
Type:
Season of
Use:
Location:
Dessert
Rootstock: M26, MM106
Pick late September, Use October – December.
Caernarfon Way (M26), Lewis Way (MM106), Burnt Barn (MM106),
Castle Dell (M26)
Yellow Ingestrie
Raised around 1800 nr Ludlow in Shropshire. Named after Ingestrie
Hall in Staffordshire. Widely grown in gardens and for market in the
C19th, the very ornamental small yellow apples were also used in
decorative table displays, and being wired onto evergreens to make
‘kissing boughs’. Best eaten in early September, does not keep beyond
October for eating purposes.
Type:
Season of
Use:
Location:
Dessert
Rootstock: M26
Pick early September, Use September-October
Chepstow School, Wyebank Road.
Page 11 of 13
Pears
Beurré Bedford
Beurré means ‘buttered’ and is part of the name of many pears with a
texture resembling that of butter. This variety was introduced in 1922.
fruits should be harvested and eaten in October
Type:
Season of
Use:
Location:
Dessert
Pick October, Use October
Rootstock:
Deans Hill
Concorde
A self-fertile modern variety raised in the 1970s.
Type:
Season of
Use:
Location:
Dessert
Pick , Use
Rootstock: Quince A
Chepstow School, Wyedean School, Deans Hill
Conference
Introduced 1894, remains a popular variety because it will keep in
store if picked before fully ripe.
Type:
Season of
Use:
Location:
Dessert
Rootstock: Quince A
Pick end of September, Use October – November.
Tenby Lane, Lewis Way
Louise Bonne of Jersey
An old variety with intense flavour with floral overtones. Produces very
attractive blossom.
Type:
Season of
Use:
Location:
Dessert
Pick September, Use October.
Rootstock:
Deans Hill
Page 12 of 13
Plums
Oullins Golden Gage (or Reine Claude d’Ouillins)
A sweet large yellow plum raised in France in 1856. Partially selffertile.
Type:
Season of
Use:
Location:
Culinary and Dessert
Pick and use mid August
Rootstock:
Castle Dell, Hollins Garden
Victoria
Popular self- fertile variety raised in Sussex in the 1840s.
Type:
Season of
Use:
Location:
Culinary and Dessert
Pick and use Late August
Rootstock:
Tenby Lane, Castle Dell (2)
Cherries
Summer Sun
A modern self fertile red variety with good frost resistance.
Type:
Season of
Use:
Location:
Dessert
Late season
Rootstock: Gisela 5
Bulwark Community Centre
Sweetheart
A modern self fertile black variety
Type:
Season of
Use:
Location:
Dessert
Late season
Rootstock: Gisela 5
Bulwark Community centre
© Transition Chepstow 2013. www.transitionchepstow.org.uk
Notes researched by Marc Carlton.
Page 13 of 13