The World of Apples

Apples of United Kingdom

670 varieties in the atlas came from United Kingdom. The oldest is London Pippin, dated by 1580.

Map of where the apple varieties in the atlas came from A map of the world on the Equal Earth projection, with a dot for each variety at its place of origin.

Harvest

United Kingdom grew 408,047 tonnes of apples in 2024, 0.42% of the world's harvest; it ranked 28th among the world's producers.1

1961 2024
The figures
YearTonnes
2024 408,047
2023 409,222
2022 472,969
2021 392,459
2020 631,597
2019 610,444
2018 548,721
2017 535,300
2016 481,100
2015 459,600
2014 451,400
2013 398,500
2012 203,550
2011 239,890
2010 235,450
2009 229,000
2008 242,900
2007 243,100
2006 269,239
2005 218,100
2004 170,400
2003 143,900
2002 179,400
2001 211,800
2000 208,800
1999 246,400
1998 183,700
1997 187,000
1996 223,600
1995 260,900
1994 349,800
1993 355,300
1992 389,400
1991 323,220
1990 309,059
1989 447,673
1988 268,400
1987 284,672
1986 302,600
1985 305,400
1984 346,600
1983 311,500
1982 363,100
1981 231,800
1980 357,200
1979 363,000
1978 391,200
1977 270,000
1976 363,500
1975 374,600
1974 396,800
1973 490,041
1972 375,227
1971 530,276
1970 596,015
1969 447,000
1968 382,000
1967 332,000
1966 370,000
1965 529,000
1964 653,000
1963 545,000
1962 583,000
1961 339,000

Growing regions

  • Herefordshire Reputed "the Orchard of England" in 1657, Herefordshire still has nearly a quarter of England's commercial orchards
  • Kent Henry VIII's fruiterer planted Teynham about 1533; Kent now has nearly two-fifths of England's commercial orchards

Varieties from United Kingdom, oldest first

  • Watercolour painting of Golden Pippin apples by Deborah Griscom Passmore.

    Golden Pippin

    Small, golden and very old; to English connoisseurs, wrote Downing, the queen of all dessert apples

    United Kingdom, by 1629

  • Coloured plate of Redstreak apples from T. A. Knight, Pomona Herefordiensis.

    Redstreak

    The celebrated cider apple of 17th-century Herefordshire, spread by Lord Scudamore; by 1885 it was no longer grown

    United Kingdom, early 17th century

  • Foxwhelp

    First recorded in 1664 and long Herefordshire's favourite cider apple; its origin and its odd name are both obscure

    United Kingdom, first recorded 1664

  • Photograph of Ashmead's Kernel apples, whole and cut across.

    Ashmead's Kernel

    Raised in Gloucester about 1700 by Dr Ashmead, a physician; a rich russet that genetic markers show is triploid

    United Kingdom, about 1700

  • Watercolour painting of Ribston Pippin apples by Mary Daisy Arnold.

    Ribston Pippin

    Grown at Ribston Hall, Yorkshire, from a pip said to come from Normandy; its DNA parents are Margil and Nonsuch Park

    United Kingdom, about 1707

  • Watercolour painting of Blenheim Orange apples by Mary Daisy Arnold.

    Blenheim Orange

    Grown from a pip at Woodstock, beside Blenheim Park; a large triploid that DNA ties to Reinette de Hollande

    United Kingdom, about 1740

  • Photograph of Keswick Codlin apples at the National Fruit Collection, Brogdale, on the tree.

    Keswick Codlin

    Found on a rubbish heap at Gleaston Castle; an early codlin that could go into tarts by the end of June

    United Kingdom, by 1793

  • Photograph of Reine des Reinettes apples at the National Fruit Collection, Brogdale, on the tree.

    Reine des Reinettes

    France's Reine des Reinettes is England's King of the Pippins; Leroy thought them two apples, DNA finds one

    United Kingdom, by 1800

  • Watercolour painting of Golden Noble apples by Amanda Almira Newton.

    Golden Noble

    From an old orchard at Downham, Norfolk; a clear golden cooker without red, and a parent of Peasgood's Nonsuch

    United Kingdom, by 1803

  • Watercolour painting of Bramley's Seedling apples by Ellen Isham Schutt.

    Bramley's Seedling

    Grown from a pip in a Southwell garden between 1809 and 1815; the original tree was still alive in 2026

    United Kingdom, between 1809 and 1815

  • Kingston Black

    A Somerset bittersharp whose juice comes close to the ideal for cider; its origin near Taunton rests on tradition

    United Kingdom, by about 1820

  • Watercolour painting of Cox's Orange Pippin apples by Deborah Griscom Passmore.

    Cox's Orange Pippin

    Raised at Colnbrook about 1825; DNA shows its parents are Margil and Rosemary Russet, not Ribston Pippin

    United Kingdom, about 1825

  • Photograph of Rosemary Russet apples at the National Fruit Collection, Brogdale, on the tree.

    Rosemary Russet

    An English russet first recorded in 1831; DNA shows it a child of Nonpareil and a parent of Cox's Orange Pippin

    United Kingdom, by 1831

  • Watercolour painting of Sturmer Pippin apples by Ellen Isham Schutt.

    Sturmer Pippin

    Raised at Sturmer by 1831; Tasmania's most important apple in 1936, and by DNA a parent of Braeburn

    United Kingdom, by 1831

  • Watercolour painting of Lane's Prince Albert apples by Amanda Almira Newton.

    Lane's Prince Albert

    Named on a royal visit to Berkhamsted; Bunyard thought it perhaps the most reliable cropper of all cooking apples

    United Kingdom, about 1840

  • Watercolour painting of Peasgood's Nonsuch apples by Amanda Almira Newton.

    Peasgood's Nonsuch

    Grown from a pip sown at Stamford about 1858; DNA shows its parents are Alexander and Golden Noble, not Catshead

    United Kingdom, about 1858

  • Watercolour painting of Beauty of Bath apples by Bertha Heiges.

    Beauty of Bath

    An August apple from Bailbrook, near Bath, about 1864; once the most important early commercial apple in the UK

    United Kingdom, about 1864

  • Dabinett

    A Somerset bittersweet believed to be named after a Mr Dabinett; a small tree with soft, full-bodied juice for blending

    United Kingdom, mid-19th century

  • Watercolour painting of Egremont Russet apples by Deborah Griscom Passmore.

    Egremont Russet

    Of unrecorded origin and first recorded in 1872, it is probably the UK's most important commercial russet

    United Kingdom, first recorded 1872

  • Watercolour painting of Worcester Pearmain apples by Royal Charles Steadman.

    Worcester Pearmain

    Bright red and early, from Worcester in the 1870s; a parent of Discovery, Merton Worcester and many more

    United Kingdom, by 1873

  • John Downie

    Raised at Whittington, near Lichfield, and introduced in 1875; probably still Britain's best-known crab apple

    United Kingdom, 1875

  • Watercolour painting of Newton Wonder apples by Amanda Almira Newton.

    Newton Wonder

    A Derbyshire cooker introduced about 1887; DNA gives its parents as Maharaji and Northern Greening, not those on record

    United Kingdom, introduced about 1887

  • Watercolour painting of James Grieve apples by Amanda Almira Newton.

    James Grieve

    Raised in Edinburgh by the nurseryman James Grieve and shown in 1892; DNA finds Cox's Orange Pippin among its parents

    United Kingdom, by 1892

  • Photograph of Laxton's Superb apples at the National Fruit Collection, Brogdale, on the tree.

    Laxton's Superb

    Raised at Bedford in 1897; DNA names its parents as Cellini and Cox's Orange Pippin, not the recorded Wyken Pippin

    United Kingdom, 1897

  • Photograph of Sunset apples at the National Fruit Collection, Brogdale, on the tree.

    Sunset

    A Cox's Orange Pippin seedling raised at Ightham, Kent, about 1918; DNA markers suggest James Grieve as its other parent

    United Kingdom, about 1918

  • M.26

    A rootstock raised at East Malling in 1929 from M.16 and M.9; more vigorous than M.9 and a standard in rootstock trials

    United Kingdom, 1929

  • MM.106

    A Malling-Merton rootstock bred from Northern Spy against woolly aphid, sent out by East Malling and John Innes in 1951

    United Kingdom, 1932

  • Photograph of Discovery apples at the National Fruit Collection, Brogdale, on the tree.

    Discovery

    Raised in Essex about 1949 and first called Thurston August; DNA confirms Worcester Pearmain and Beauty of Bath

    United Kingdom, about 1949

  • Yarlington Mill

    A bittersweet cider apple from the Somerset village of Yarlington; it makes a light, aromatic cider

    United Kingdom

And 641 more in the catalogue, A to Z

Sources

  1. FAOSTAT: Production: Crops and livestock products, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Updated 31 December 2025. Supports: each country's apple harvest by year (item 515, apples, in tonnes, 1961 to 2024), the shares of the world's harvest and the ranks worked out from them, and which figures FAOSTAT estimated or imputed.