Our Cornish Apple Trees

When we started to restore the actual cottage, there was no greater thrill than to discover work that previous generations had done in terms of construction efforts. Some of the lime pointed walls which had sat under layers of cement and plasterboard still had marks and signs from when the walls had been handled by others up to 250 years earlier and it felt ‘right’ to put things back as they would have intended to have been originally, even more often or not that this meant a more expensive route. It’s a weird feeling but as we restored the cottage inch by inch, we felt like we had a hand of approval invisibly placed on our shoulders.

But so too for us was a similar theory behind the orchard too. Whilst we’ve never seen any sign that the land we acquired had ever been an orchard before, we did discover that it had once been allotments and we also discovered some very ancient and very well made stonework in the walls too, with herringbone effects etc showing that somebody valued the land and that this may have been more than pasture or agricultural use previously. We also found a lot of VERY small horseshoes.

So, after deciding that we liked the idea of not only planting several dozen trees to help with our own ‘carbon footprint’ and to provide windbreaks and privacy over time, we mutually agreed that we should attempt to source indigenous apple trees that would have existed around the time, and from around the area when the cottage was originally built. But this was no easy task.

Apple trees for those who don’t know get grafted onto root stock at a very early stage and it’s the root stock that determines the eventual final height of the trees. We didn’t want really large trees as to create a wood and to block out light so we decided to look for Cornish apple trees on a MM106 root stock which would mean an eventual height of no more than 15 ‘ or so. But apple trees also fall into pollination groups and trees must be near other trees with a compatible grouping in order for pollination, and thus creation of apples, to occur. For example, if we had a tree with pollination group C, we could plant near groups B or D, but group A or E wouldn’t cross pollinate. It becomes very mathematical.

So, with a brief of wanting rare indigenous heritage Cornish apple trees + MM106 root stock + compatible pollination groupings, we set about finding a supplier. This took over 18 months until we eventually stumbled across an artisan supplier in Tavistock, just over the border into Devon, who was able to supply what we wanted at a reasonable cost too. The whole project was self funded. Having struck a good relationship with the supplier, we were able to reserve at the beginning of the 23/24 season some very rare varieties without any cash having to be exchanged until we were ready to collect.

Our choice of Cornish apple trees has so far become:

The Rattler (Manaccan)
Sops In Wine
Captain Smith
Cornish Gilliflower
Banana Pippin
Cornish Honey Pin
Cornish Mother
Cornish Pine
Cornish Aromatic
Early Bower (Sack and Sugar)

As well as these, we also have Crab Apple trees, Medlars, Mulberry, Plum and Quince and Pear trees, an abundance of raspberry and blueberry bushes and wild blackberry and strawberries too.