From the Living Museum
Claygate Pearmain
- Origin
- Claygate, Surrey, England, discovered by John Braddick around 1821–1822
- Era
- c. 1821–22
- Type / use
- Dessert
History & Stories
Classic English pearmain: conical, heavily russeted with red flush. Crisp, juicy, richly aromatic flesh with nutty, sweet-sharp character. Unique as one of the finer 19th-century English dessert pearmains — elegant shape and complex flavor that still impresses modern tasters.
Folklore & Name
Discovered by John Braddick at Claygate, Surrey, around 1821–22. Classic English pearmain of the early 19th century.
Digging into the History
Below my own notes, here is what the old fruit books and today’s collections record about this apple, kept apart from the stories people tell.
What we know
Claygate Pearmain was a chance find in a Surrey hedgerow. The UK National Fruit Collection says it was "discovered by John Braddick at Claygate, Surrey and exhibited to the Horticultural Society in 1821," and later received the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Merit (1901) and First Class Certificate (1921) 1. Robert Hogg's Fruit Manual (1884) says Braddick found it "growing in a hedge near his residence at Claygate, a hamlet in the parish of Thames Ditton." Hogg rated it "a valuable and highly esteemed dessert apple of the first quality," in use from November to March, with a flavour "partaking of the flavour of the Ribston Pippin" 2.
What we think: stories & traditions
A hedgerow seedling. Nobody planted this apple on purpose, as far as we know. A bird or a passer-by dropped a seed, and a gentleman with an eye for fruit noticed what grew from it 2. Many of England's best apples began exactly this way, which is one reason old hedgerows are worth protecting.
The word "pearmain" is very old in English apple names, but here it seems to describe the fruit's tapering shape rather than any family tie to other pearmains. That is our reading of the name, not something the sources state.
Sources
- UK National Fruit Collection, "Claygate Pearmain." www.nationalfruitcollection.org.uk/full2.php?id=1142&fruit=apple
- Robert Hogg, The Fruit Manual, 5th ed. (London, 1884), "Claygate Pearmain," pp. 44–45. archive.org/details/fruitmanualguide00hoggrich/page/44
Curious about Claygate Pearmain?
Email us at drgoss@honeytreeorchard.com.