Information about apples online and in print - the varieties, history, cultivation, cooking, supply and eating of English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish apples (and a little about pears, plums, cherries and other orchard fruit too).

Varieties of apples

Brogdale Horticultural Trust - The National Fruit Collection
Brogdale maintains a living collection of thousands of varieties of fruit, including over 2,300 varieties of apple. The website includes a detailed catalogue of the apple varieties with many photos.

Orange Pippin
Superb website with reams of information on apple varieties old and new, commercial and heritage, orchard and garden. The apple tree register is an ambitious project to map apple tree varieties around the world.

The New Book of Apples: The Definitive Guide to Over 2000 Varieties by Joan Morgan and Alison Richards
Detailed descriptions and illustrations of thousands of varieties of apple, from well-known traditional apples and widely available commercial varieites to the very rare and highly unusual.

East of England Apples and Orchards Project
Focussing on traditional varieties of apple (and other orchard fruit) from the counties of the East of England (Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk and Suffolk), the EEAOP provides in-depth information on the history and characteristics of hundreds of heritage fruits that will be of interest to readers everywhere. The project also organises apple events, training sessions, co-ordinates initiatives to plant and protect orchards, searches for lost varieties and sells trees.

Identifying apples

Applekey is a key for the identification of over 700 varieties of apple, returning probable matches for apples with specified characteristics. Free to download (with suggested donation).

Apples: A Field Guide by Michael Clark
Field guide to the identification of apple trees

The culture, history and science of apples

Common Ground
Celebrating the distinctiveness and diversity of Britain, with a particular long interest in apples. 19 years ago, Common Ground initiated Apple Day, now with dozens of events across the country.

Institute of Food Research - Apple facts
Thoroughly researched information on the science, history, cultivation and supply of apples. The composition of apples is explained, from the dry matter content (apples are 80% water but eating varieties can have 20% more dry matter than Bramleys) to the 250 volatile esters, alcohols, aldehydes and essential oils that determine the distinctive aroma of each variety.

The Apple Source Book by Sue Clifford and Angela King
Beautiful writing on the culture of apples by the founders of Common Ground

The Story of the Apple by Barrie Edward Juniper
The origins of the cultivated apple

Sustainable apples

How Green are our Apples? (and the Pear Essentials) from Sustain
Report investigating the environmental, social and economic sustainability of British apples, from the importance of orchards for wildlife and the bio-diversity of traditional varieties to the impacts of importing so many of the apples we eat and the viability of British producers.

Cultivating apples

Keeper’s nursery
“Possibly the largest range of fruit trees and soft fruit plants in the world.” Excellent fruit tree and plant nursery offering hundreds of varieties of apple.

The UK apple industry

Defra’s Basic Horticultural Statistics provide fundamental data on the United Kingdom’s apple industry, from production (106,000 tonnes of dessert apples and 137,000 tonnes of cooking apples grown in 2007) to imports (522,000 tonnes imported in 2007).

English apples and pears
Trade association promoting English growers of apples and pears. Website provides information and data on the main commercial varieties of apple grown in England (Bramley, Cox, Egremont Russet, Gala, Spartan, Worcester Pearmain).

Bramley apples
Trade association promoting Bramley apples, Britain’s favourite cooking apple.

MAGIC - Interactive environmental map - comprehensive environmental mapping of England, Scotland, Wales and surrounding marine areas, providing information from the project partners:

• Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
• English Heritage
• Natural England
• Environment Agency
• Forestry Commission
• Communities and Local Government

The interactive web-based map displays a wide variety of environmental data across a range of scales. Data includes:

• Agricultural Land Classification (England)
• Classified Bivalve Mollusc Harvesting Areas (England and Wales)
• Environmentally Sensitive Areas (England)
• Joint Character Areas (England)
• Land Management Initiatives (England)
• Less Favoured Areas (England)
• Organic Farming Scheme (England)

Natural England - Joint character area landscape descriptions - Natural England has divided England into 159 “joint character areas” (JCAs), each an area of characteristic landscape. A detailed report (pdf) on each area is available to download free of charge.

The JCAs are superb introductions to detailed landscape areas of England, covering not just the farmed landscape, but also the coastal fringe, wilderness and even urban areas. There’s no better comprehensive introduction to the distinctive countryside and cityscapes of England.

Each report details:

• Key characteristics
• Landscape character
• Map of the area
• Physical influences
• Historical and cultural influences
• Buildings and settlement
• Land cover
• The changing countryside
• Shaping the future
• Selected references
• Glossary

JCAs include (a more or less random selection) South Norfolk and High Suffolk Claylands; Morecambe Bay Limestones; Shropshire, Cheshire and Staffordshire Plain; Somerset Levels and Moors; Thames Basin Lowlands; Lincolnshire Coast and Marshes; Northumberland Sandstone Hills; and 152 other distinctive areas of the English landscape.

Where better to start than the British landscape? Largely shaped by farming, the countryside underlies food production.

Essential landscape resources online

Natural England - Joint character area landscape descriptions - Natural England has divided England into 159 “joint character areas” (JCAs), each an area of characteristic landscape. A detailed report (pdf) on each area can be downloaded. More about JCAs…

MAGIC - Interactive environmental map - comprehensive environmental mapping of England, Scotland, Wales and surrounding marine areas. More about MAGIC…

Defra/NERC - Countryside Survey - extensive audit of the British countryside, collecting data on habitat types, hedgerows, plant species and freshwater invertebrates.

Defra/ADAS - Countryside Information System - downloadable program (Windows) providing mapping of environmental data from Magic, the Countryside Survey and other sources.

Landscape resources in print

Making of the English Landscape by WG Hoskins, a classic text on the English landscape.

Other landscape resources online

Defra - Farming: landscape features - advice and support for farmers on managing landscape features such as trees, hedges and drystone walls.

AHRC - Landscape and environment - an interdisciplinary thematic funding programme of the Arts and Humanities Research Council, with links to funded research programmes.