From the Living Museum
Ellis Bitter
- Origin
- Newton St Cyres, Devon, England
- Era
- West Country traditional
- Type / use
- Cider (Bittersharp/Bittersweet)
History & Stories
Classic West Country cider apple, a medium bittersweet, believed to come from a farm at Newton St Cyres in Devon belonging to a Mr Ellis 1. High tannin and acid used for traditional cider blends. Unique as an authentic component of the English cider apple canon.
Folklore & Name
West Country English cider apple. Named after a Mr Ellis of Newton St Cyres, near Exeter; a medium bittersweet that makes good-quality cider 1.
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
The UK National Fruit Collection describes Ellis Bitter as "an old variety thought to have originated on the farm of a Mr Ellis of Newton St Cyres," in Devon. Its large, conical fruits have "white, crisp, juicy sweet flesh which is a little astringent," and it makes "a good quality cider" as a medium bittersweet 1.
What we think: stories & traditions
A farm apple with a family name. That one sentence is nearly all the history we have found. Newton St Cyres lies in the Creedy valley near Exeter, in the heart of Devon's cider country. We don't know Mr Ellis's first name, when he grew the tree, or whether he raised it or simply had it on his farm 1.
Many West Country cider apples carry a farmer's name in just this way, which tells us how varieties spread: one farm's good tree, grafted by the neighbours, became "Mr Ellis's bitter apple" across the parish.
Sources
- UK National Fruit Collection, "Ellis Bitter." www.nationalfruitcollection.org.uk/full2.php?id=1835&fruit=apple
Curious about Ellis Bitter?
Email us at drgoss@honeytreeorchard.com.