Planted in this orchard in 2010 this very popular cooking apple was raised from a seed around 1810 by Miss Mary Anne Brailsford who planted an apple pip in her cottage garden in Southwell, Nottinghamshire. In 1848 the cottage was bought by a local inn keeper and butcher, Matthew Bramley. In 1876 it was exhibited and introduced as Bramley’s Seedling by nurseryman H. Merryweather who had taken a graft from the original tree. The original tree survived in the Southwell cottage garden until 2016 when it was overcome by Honey Fungus.
Bramleys are now our most widely and commercially grown cooking apple. The fruit is a regular squat round shape with a russet, orange flush on green. It cooks to a pale cream puree with strong acidity and good flavour. It is usually picked in mid-October and stores well into the following spring.