Welsh Apples

The Cambrian Journal (Vol. 111, 1858) contains a list of names for about 200 Welsh Apples, the majority of which were from the Monmouth area. Presumably, the number of Welsh apples nationally was considerably larger than it is today, and almost all of these apple varieties appear to have been lost. Not only a loss to Welsh culture, and one to apple diversity in general, it is also a loss to apple-growing since these varieties, thriving in the cool damp conditions of Wales, would probably have been suitable for commercially producing future cultivars in locations with a similar climate.

In 1999 a single lone apple tree was identified by Ian Sturrock on Bardsey Island (located at the end of the Llŷn Peninsula in North Wales). Its uniqueness and the rugged location was seized upon by the media and it was described as "The rarest tree in the world". This media coverage seems to have sparked a resurgence in Welsh apple varieties. The gnarled and twisted tree, growing by the side of Plas Bach, is believed to be the only survivor of an orchard that was tended by the monks who lived there a thousand years ago. In 1998, experts on the varieties of British apples at the National Fruit Collection in Brogdale stated that they believed this tree was the only example of a previously unrecorded cultivar, the Bardsey Apple (Welsh: Afal Enlli). The cultivar has since been propagated by grafting and is available commercially.

The National Botanic Garden of Wales at Llanarthney, Carmarthenshire is now planting a Welsh Apple variety collection and hoping to publish a Welsh Pomona in the coming years, with over 50 varieties with Welsh or possible Welsh connections, for example Foreman's Crew (1826 from Merthyr Tydfil).

Several dozen cultivars are now available commercially. There is now a thriving Welsh Perry and Cider Society and several commercial orchards growing Welsh varieties, as well as school and community groups with small orchards.