Autumn Pearmain

One of the oldest English dessert apples, which can be traced back to the late 1500s. Referred to in Parkinson's Paradisus of 1629 as being one of the apples most worth growing, the Autumn Pearmain is a mid season apple and has firm flesh and a pleasant sweet taste.

Bazely

A very rare and old Buckinghamshire variety. The name originates from the variety being the 'Best of the Lee', an area near Chalfont St Giles. The apple was used in the past for mincemeat due to its sharpness and texture that remains intact when cooked. It can also be eaten uncooked after storing from October until January.

Bedfordshire Foundling

A large cooking apple, which originated around 1800. It has yellow skin flushed with orange that keeps its shape when cooked and has a full, rich flavour. This apple crops well and can be stored until March.

Brownlees' Russet

A crisp and juicy dessert apple, which was introduced in 1848 by Mr William Brownlees, a nurseryman in Hemel Hempstead. This medium sized apple is crisp and juicy with a full, rich flavour. The fruit is greenish gold in colour and the tree was also popular for private gardens given its beautiful deep pink blossom.

Burr Knot

A culinary apple, known since 1818, with a sweet, juicy flavour. It can be kept until November and gets its name from the burrs along the tree which will root. As this variety is so easy to propagate, it became very popular in country districts.

Catshead

Also known as Pigs Snout, this apple originated in Berkshire and gets its name from the unusual shape of the fruit which is tall and angular. Catshead is a very old culinary variety used for baked apples and apple dumplings. It has white and juicy flesh and can be stored until January.

Charles Ross

This variety is named after the Head Gardener at Welford Park in Berkshire who raised this apple at the end of the 1800s. This cross variety is delicious to eat raw as it is juicy with a lightly aromatic, sweet taste. It will keep its shape well when cooked and stores until December.

Cornish Gillflower

This apple variety was found in 1800 in a garden in Truro. The name originates from the French Giroflier, meaning clove bearing, because the flowers have a clove scent. It is said to be one of the best desert apples as it has crisp, yellow flesh with a sweet, richly perfumed flavour. The apple can be stored from October until January.

Court Pendu Plat

This variety, grown since at least 1613, is known as the Wise Apple as it flowers very late to avoid late frosts. The flesh has a very rich, fruity taste and was popular with the Victorians who used it as a dessert apple. The trees were also used as a decorative feature in tubs as they have an attractive blossom and neat habit.

Decio

This Italian dessert apple dates back to around 450 AD. It is named after the Roman general Ezio who supposedly took the apple with him when he marched northwards to fight Attila the Hun. It is a small, sweet and fruity dessert apple and will store until March. It is also useful for garden ornament given its very upright habit.

Lane’s Prince Albert

This apple, introduced in Berkhamsted in 1857 by John Lane, a grower in town, has white juicy flesh and purees well. It is so called because the original tree was transplanted to the grower’s front garden the day Queen Victoria and Prince Albert came to town. It was said to be a ‘marvellous bearer’ and could be eaten as a dessert apple by March.

Laxton’s Superb

This variety, raised in 1897 by the Laxton brothers of Bedford, is one of the best known late dessert apples and is in fact a cross between a Cox and a Wyken Pippin. The resulting fruit is very sweet and juicy, although it does vary from year to year. It is said to ‘grow where Cox fail to thrive’ and crops especially well when young.

Long Runnit

An old apple variety local to The Lee in Buckinghamshire. It is known according to the National Apple Register as the Long Reinette and was rescued from extinction in 2001. It is a good dessert apple, medium sized, firm and fairly juicy with a good balance of sweetness and acidity. As the name suggests the shape is elongated. It will keep until Christmas.

Miller’s Seedling

Raised by Mr Miller, a nurseryman of Newbury in 1948, this dessert apple should be eaten straight from the tree.  The trees produce heavy crops but they are biennial. The fruit has sweet, crisp, juicy flesh and is very decorative with creamy skin flushed coral pink.

Sir Isaac Newton's Tree

This variety is a descendant of the original apple tree that Newton was sitting under when the notion of gravity occurred to him. The large fruit with red flushed skin are crisp with a good flavour. They are principally used for cooking when they produce a delicate puree. They can, however, be used as a dessert apple or for making cider.