Core value Appeal to save first bramley apple tree

It is the mother tree of perhaps the most popular cooking apple in the world. But the original Bramley apple has been neglected and barred from public view, according to descendants of the gardener who discovered it.

- Patrick Barkham

The 220-year-old tree is still fruiting in the garden of a cottage in Southwell, Nottinghamshire, which today hosts its annual festival celebrating the Bramley apple.

But Celia Stevens, the great-granddaughter of Henry Merryweather, the man who first spotted the potential of the unique hybrid apple, said the owners of the cottage garden, Nottingham Trent University, were neglecting the tree.

Stevens says the ageing tree is surrounded by nettles, with honey fungus, a pathogen that is slowly killing it, allowed to run rampant.

"When the university bought the cottage we thought, oh wonderful, they can now take care of the tree and the public can see its importance and what it represents," she said. "But it's a tiny garden and its surrounds do not reflect this wonderful tree and what it's done for our country."

The cottages that come with the garden, which were purchased by Nottingham Trent in 2018, are used as student accommodation.