From the Living Museum
Dabinett
- Origin
- Middle Lambrook–Kingsbury Episcopi area, Somerset, England
- Era
- Mid-to-late 1800s (first recorded 1896)
- Type / use
- Cider (Bittersweet)
History & Stories
The most widely planted bittersweet cider apple in Britain. High sugar, high tannin, low acid — the classic bittersweet profile that produces full-bodied, astringent cider. Unique for its combination of reliability, productivity, and near-perfect juice chemistry for traditional English cider. A cornerstone variety for any serious cider orchard.
Folklore & Name
Somerset bittersweet that became the most widely planted cider apple in Britain. Named after a Mr Dabinett of the Middle Lambrook area; local lore says a farm labourer, William Dabinett, found it growing wild in a hedge 1,2; the juice chemistry is nearly ideal for traditional English bittersweet cider.
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
Dabinett is a Somerset bittersweet. The UK National Fruit Collection says it is "thought to have originated in the Martock-Kingsbury area of Somerset in the mid-19th Century" and is "believed to have been named after a Mr Dabinett" 1. The cider historian Darlene Hayes traced it in the records: its earliest written trace is in the Bath and West Society's journal for 1896, in a table of cider-apple analyses from fruit harvested in 1895 on Richard Scott's farm. In 1897 Scott used it in two prize-winning ciders 2. Hayes found that for some years every report of it came from farms close to Middle Lambrook, and that the National Fruit and Cider Institute listed it among profitable to grow in 1911 2.
The competing accounts
- UK National Fruit Collection 1: thought to have originated around Martock and Kingsbury in Somerset in the mid-1800s, named after a Mr Dabinett, and possibly a Chisel Jersey seedling.
- Darlene Hayes, Cidercraft 2: first recorded in 1896; local lore credits William Dabinett, a farm labourer, or his son with finding a wilding in a hedge; DNA work points to Burrow Hill Early and Hereford Broadleaf as parents, not Chisel Jersey.
Most likely (our judgment, not a certainty): a chance seedling from the Middle Lambrook area of Somerset, found in the later 1800s and named for the Dabinett family. Both sources agree on the place. On parentage we prefer the DNA result reported by Hayes over the older guess, though we have not seen the study itself.
What we think: stories & traditions
A hedgerow "gribble" (local lore). Hayes reports that "local lore says that one of the Williams," a farm labourer named William Dabinett or his son of the same name, found the tree "growing in a hedgerow — a 'wilding' or 'gribble,' in the dialect of Somerset." She notes the tale doesn't say when it was found or what happened next 2. She also suggests William may have brought it to a cider-making farmer nearby, but she says clearly that this is her own speculation 2.
Parentage. The National Fruit Collection calls it "possibly a seedling of Chisel Jersey" 1. Hayes reports that more recent DNA work points instead to Burrow Hill Early and Hereford Broadleaf as likely parents 2. Treat both as working theories.
Sources
- UK National Fruit Collection, "Dabinett." www.nationalfruitcollection.org.uk/full2.php?id=1438&fruit=apple
- Darlene Hayes, "Dabinett: From Small Village to World Renowned," Cidercraft (18 April 2022). cidercraftmag.com/dabinett-from-small-village-to-world-renowned/
Curious about Dabinett?
Email us at drgoss@honeytreeorchard.com.