NATIONAL TRUST FOR SCOTLAND
Apples, in some form or another, have been used by man since at least 6,500BC - these would probably have been more like the wild, crab apple than the fruits we know today, and evidence suggests they were dried for use.
Today’s apples have their origins in Kazakhstan, and after centuries of cross-breeding and natural hybridisation, gardeners have selected characteristics for the desired end use.
The peak of apple selection and breeding in the UK was during the 19th and 20th centuries with many of the varieties we know today coming from this time, including ‘Bramley’s Seedling’, ‘Cox’s Orange Pippin’, and Scotland’s own ‘James Grieve’, named in honour of an Edinburgh nurseryman.
As transport networks improved, the variety of apples available diminished. With the advent of the railways, varieties that travelled well were preferred and others left for dwindling, local markets. Today most of the world apple market is dominated by just half a dozen varieties.
The National Trust for Scotland (NTS) manages several orchards across Scotland. A traditional orchard was often underplanted with currants or other soft fruit whilst the apple trees grew to fruiting size so the ground was utilised to the maximum. The fruit was then removed and replaced with grass, and sometimes sheep to keep the grass short.
Commercial orchards were managed with pesticides to keep the weeds down under the trees, and the grass was mown between the rows.
Today we are moving away from the use of pesticides and returning to more traditional growing methods. There are new orchards being established with cereal crops between the rows whilst the trees grow.
The NTS also displays trees at its properties grown in formal, trained shapes developed over the centuries, with espalier and fan shapes being some of the oldest forms. These trained trees can be managed in a small space, and with the use of dwarfing rootstocks, restricted even further.
Scotland was a major fruit producer in the traditional growing areas around Lanark and the Carse of Gowrie. Today you can still see remnants of these orchards and there is an ongoing project to record the remaining trees.
Some of the oldest varieties grown by NTS include ‘Old Pearmain’ pre-1204, ‘Calville Blanc de Hiver’ pre-1598, and ‘Golden Monday’ from 1724.
We also manage a collection of Scottish apples at Fyvie Castle where you can find ‘Hawthornden’ (1780) from Roslin, and ‘Coul Blush’ (1827) from Contin.
There are around 37 Scottish varieties available today, some may take a bit of finding but would be rewarding to grow, knowing you are preserving these historic forms.
Many of the varieties we have today come from deliberate crosses, carried out by head gardeners at large estates across the country. Others have been bred by government research facilities, often set up after the war to improve the UK’s ability to be more self-sufficient in food production.
Many of the trees in NTS orchards do not have names, possibly because they were not recorded at planting, or the records have been lost over time. When there are no written records we have been trying to identify them from their characteristics.
Visual identification can be a bit difficult as the apple changes as it ripens, and can look quite different from one year to the next: a green apple might turn bright yellow after a month's storage for example. If you want to have a go at identifying your own apple try the Fruit ID website, www.fruitid.com.
Recently we have sent some fruits for naming to Brogdale Collections, the home of the national fruit collection. In 2023 we sent a small selection for DNA testing to establish which varieties we have. This has turned up some surprising results, on Canna for instance, where we have some varieties not represented on the DNA database.
Where we identify a rare variety, or if we have an old tree that is in decline, we are grafting these onto new rootstocks to maintain the variety. This is especially important where we have an unknown variety as it is possible that our tree could be the last remaining one of that particular variety. These propagated plants are planted back at the property to maintain the diversity within the collection.
The National Trust for Scotland manages several significant orchards across the country at,
This old established orchard has some trees that date back to the late 1800s. Managed in a meadow style setting, it is alive with insects during spring and early summer.
This a fairly new collection of Scottish fruits all brought together in one place, the ideal reference collection if you were thinking of planting a Scottish apple tree, or any other type of Scottish fruit, in your garden.
A small, domestic-sized, modern orchard with a beautiful small orchard containing ‘Katja’ and ‘Discovery’ apples.
There are two small orchards dating from the early 1900s, with several trees of the same variety planted to provide apples for preserving.
A small collection of historic apple varieties including ‘Irish Peach’, one of the earliest to crop, probably planted in the 1920s.
With some very well established, wall-trained fruit, and a modern medium-sized orchard containing some old Scottish and early English varieties.
This ancient orchard site associated with Melrose Abbey, contains a historic collection of fruits from the Borders’ region, including ‘White Melrose’.
The orchard was established in the 1960s with trees moved from the Carse of Gowrie. Threave’s collection is also used as a teaching resource for the NTS School of Horticulture.
NTS celebrates the rich variety of apples in its collections every year, with a series of events across the country. Why not go along this month to an Apple Day and celebrate Scotland's rich apple heritage?
Find them at Falkland Palace on 6th-8th October, at Harmony on 13th-15th, and at Kellie Castle on 20th-22nd October. Check the NTS website for up-to-date event details.