From the Living Museum
D'Arcy Spice
- Origin
- Tolleshunt D'Arcy, Essex, England; found in the garden of The Hall around 1785 (also known as Baddow Pippin)
- Era
- c. 1785–1800
- Type / use
- Dessert
History & Stories
Medium, round fruit with heavy russet and orange flush. Intensely aromatic and spicy, with one of the most powerful and complex flavors of any English apple. Unique for the sheer intensity of its aromatic character; a true connoisseur’s variety that rewards careful growing and storage.
Folklore & Name
Essex apple named for the village of Tolleshunt D'Arcy, where it was found in the garden of The Hall; nurserymen renamed it Baddow Pippin and Spring Ribston, but the old name stuck 1,2. Famous for intense aromatic, spicy flavor. Classic English connoisseur’s variety of the late 18th 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
D'Arcy Spice is named for the Essex village of Tolleshunt D'Arcy. The UK National Fruit Collection says it was "found in the garden of The Hall, Tolleshunt d'Arcy, Essex in about 1785, but may have earlier origins," and introduced by John Harris, a Broomfield nurseryman, as Baddow Pippin in 1848 1. Robert Hogg's Fruit Manual (1884) says "many old trees" were still standing in the neighbourhood, and that it "was always known by the name of D'Arcy Spice, or simply Spice Apple" until Harris renamed it. Soon afterwards the Sawbridgeworth nurseryman Rivers sold it under yet another name, Spring Ribston 2. Hogg called it "a first-rate dessert apple" that kept "till April or May" 2.
The competing accounts
- UK National Fruit Collection 1: found in the garden of The Hall at Tolleshunt D'Arcy, Essex, about 1785, "but may have earlier origins"; introduced as Baddow Pippin in 1848.
- Robert Hogg, 1884 2: many old trees stood in the district, and locals had always called it D'Arcy Spice or Spice Apple.
- It is sometimes linked to the D'Arcy family itself; neither source makes that link.
Most likely (our judgment, not a certainty): an Essex apple from the garden of The Hall, Tolleshunt D'Arcy, around 1785, named after the village. Both sources tie it to the place, and nothing we found ties it to the family.
What we think: stories & traditions
Three names, one apple. Hogg's account shows an apple renamed twice by nurserymen in a few years: first Baddow Pippin, then Spring Ribston 2. Locals kept the plain old name, and it is the one that survived.
The D'Arcy family? The village takes its name from the D'Arcy family, medieval lords of the manor. Some modern accounts link the apple to the family, but the sources we checked tie it to the village and to The Hall's garden, not to any family member 1,2.
Sources
- UK National Fruit Collection, "D'Arcy Spice." www.nationalfruitcollection.org.uk/full2.php?id=1429&fruit=apple
- Robert Hogg, The Fruit Manual, 5th ed. (London, 1884), "D'Arcy Spice." archive.org/details/fruitmanualguide00hoggrich/mode/2up?q=D%27Arcy+Spice
Curious about D'Arcy Spice?
Email us at drgoss@honeytreeorchard.com.