Bramley Apple - History

History

The first 'Bramley's Seedling' tree grew from pips planted by Mary Ann Brailsford when she was a young girl in her garden in Southwell, Nottinghamshire, UK in 1809. The tree in the garden was later included in the purchase of the cottage by a local butcher, Matthew Bramley in 1846. In 1856, a local nurseryman, Henry Merryweather asked if he could take cuttings from the tree and start to sell the apples. Bramley agreed but insisted that the apples should bear his name.

On 31 October 1862, the first recorded sale of a Bramley was noted in Merryweather's accounts. He sold "three Bramley apples for 2/- to Mr Geo Cooper of Upton Hall". On 6 December 1876, the Bramley was highly commended at the Royal Horticultural Society's Fruit Committee exhibition. In 1900, the original tree was knocked over during violent storms; it survived, however, and is still bearing fruit two centuries after it was planted. It is now the most important cooking apple in England and Wales, with 21.68 km², 95% of total culinary apple orchards in 2007. The Bramley is almost exclusively a British variety; however it is also grown by a few United States farms, and can be found in Canada.

The town of Southwell hosts many celebrations of the Bramley Apple including the Bramley Apple Festival in October and is also home to 'The Bramley Apple Inn', located just a few doors away from the original Bramley apple tree, which is considered to be a town treasure.

A blue plaque on the house in Southwell now commemorates the apple.