Here you will find descriptions and photographs of those apple varieties deemed to have originated in Worcestershire in some form, either found as wildings grown from pips or specifically bred by nurserymen or residents of the county.
Any such list is speculative and open to debate. For example, a number of these varieties are claimed by Worcestershire by virtue of having been introduced by local nurserymen: as the county was once rich in fruit nurseries this gives us a good variety list. However, the actual seedling or bred stock could well have originated elsewhere and nationally some varieties are claimed by more than one county.
In compiling this list we acknowledge the work of Common Ground and their apple map of 1993, which was instrumental in introducing the notion of the locally distinctive and the seeking out and documenting of the varieties of each county.
The variety list on this website comprises the Common Ground list of Worcestershire apples plus other varieties which have been deemed, from local research, to have originated in Worcestershire. The four counties of Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire and Gloucestershire were once all rich fruit growing areas and there is inevitably a slight degree of overlap with one or two varieties claimed by more than one county.
If you would like to add Worcestershire varieties of apple into your own orchard do look at the catalogue offered by Walcot Nursery.
There are believed to be 29 varieties of Worcestershire apple. All of the descriptions and photographs are by Wade Muggleton unless stated. Follow the A – Z links on the left or click below to discover more about the different apple varieties.