About apples

The history of apples

Apples originated in the Middle East more than 4000 years ago and fruit and vines have been grown in the UK since Roman occupation. Specially cultivated apple varieties spread across Europe to France, arriving in England at around the time of the Norman Conquest in 1066. The Normans had a strong tradition of apple growing and introduced many apple varieties including the Pearmain and the Costard.

After this period there was a demise in apple growing owing to the Black Death in the 13th century and repeated droughts. This was reversed by Henry VIII who instructed his fruiterer, Richard Harris, to establish the first large scale orchards at Tynham in Kent. Harris began to import apple trees from France and planted a model orchard at Tynham which was used to distribute trees to other growers.

Old English was the main dessert apple in England until at least the 18th century. The Victorian explorers found new varieties from all over the world and bought them to Brogdale in Kent - thereby developing its orchards and gardens.

Towards the end of the 18th century the quality of fruit crops declined as it became more profitable to farm wheat and cattle. Protection of the fruit market during the Napoleonic Wars and high tariffs imposed on imported fruit led to many new orchards being planted during the 1820's and 30's. However, when these tariffs were lowered in 1837 the apple market collapsed. This situation continued until 1870 when industrialisation of the country led to increased income and fruits once again became profitable.

It is estimated that somewhere in the region of 2,300 apple varieties exist in the UK today with Bramley, Discovery and Cox among the favourites. The English Cox has been one of the most highly regarded apple varieties in the world and dates back to 1825 when Richard Cox raised the first tree in his garden, set in two acres of rural Berkshire. The apple then started to receive public acclaim after Queen Victoria's head gardener Thomas Ingram championed the variety in the 1850s.

In fact, the Cox is the most popular apple in Britain today - two out of three apples harvested are of this variety and are homegrown in the countryside of Kent, Sussex, Suffolk, East Anglia and the West Midlands. Nearly 82 million kgs are harvested yearly. And, of course, the Cox's Orange Pippin is a main ingredient of your favourite apple juice, Copella, and also partly holds the origin of the name! For more information on the Copella name, please see our 'History of Copella' page.