From the Living Museum
Fillbarrel
- Origin
- Somerset, England; 19th century
- Era
- 19th century
- Type / use
- Cider · Dual-purpose
History & Stories
Bittersweet cider variety that originated in Somerset in the 19th century 1, used to add body and character to cider. Part of the older English cider-apple continuum.
Folklore & Name
Somerset bittersweet cider variety of the 19th century 1. Name of local or descriptive origin.
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
Very little has been written about Fillbarrel. The UK National Fruit Collection says it "originated in Somerset, UK in the 19th Century" and describes it as "a bittersweet cider variety" on trees "of medium vigour" 1. It is held in the national collection of cider apples at Tidnor Wood in Herefordshire 1.
What we think: stories & traditions
A name that tells you its job. We haven't found any record of who raised Fillbarrel or where in Somerset it was first grown. The name seems to say exactly what farmers valued in it: a tree that cropped well enough to fill the cider barrels. That is our reading of the name, not a documented story.
Many Somerset cider apples were local farm seedlings that never made it into the printed pomologies, and Fillbarrel looks like one of them. Its survival owes a great deal to the national collections that gathered these old farm varieties in the 20th century 1.
Sources
- UK National Fruit Collection, "Fillbarrel." www.nationalfruitcollection.org.uk/full2.php?id=2025&fruit=apple
Curious about Fillbarrel?
Email us at drgoss@honeytreeorchard.com.