It’s great to hear that seven very special apple trees have been planted at a new riverside development which sits on the site of a former Victorian villa and garden.
The Victorian villa and garden was once the home of a keen horticulturalist who specialised in pomology and who cultivated a large apple orchard behind the former Dairy Crest site.
According to Clare from Arc Consulting,
“One of the trees grown there was reputed to be the Isle of Wight’s very own apple, the world’s largest variety and record holder, the Howgate Wonder.
“To ensure the pomologist’s work and the tree species were preserved, a small experiment was undertaken with the help of Paul Coleman at the Isle of Wight College. Cuttings from the four kinds of apple were taken and placed in a cold store at the College before sending them on to Deacons of Godshill for grafting.
“The grafted plants were then returned to the College where they were containerised and grown on. Now almost four foot high, the trees have been returned to the site and planted to create a new mini-orchard.”
Paul Coleman from the College explains,
“We have tried to plant a selection of trees to make the most of the fruit season, so local residents can benefit from a very early eating apple as well as a late cooking variety. Whilst there is no positive identification of the apple varieties collected, at least one of the trees now planted at Abbey Mews is a Howgate Wonder.
“We hope the Dairy Crest pomologist would be pleased by the new orchard and that passersby let Arc know if they spot a world record-sized apple.
The Story of the Howgate Wonder
The Big Apple is a now a popular nickname for the city of New York. It was first used in the 1920s by a sports writer for the New York Morning Telegraph and its popularity has increased since the 1970s is due to a promotional campaign by the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau.
But one wonders if this title should be held by the Isle of Wight instead. In 1915 Mr George Wratten a retired gardener and former policeman raised an apple seedling in Bembridge.
Probably a cross between a Newton Wonder and a Blenheim Orange, it was noticed that the apples produced were very large and the variety became known as Howgate Wonder.
Suttons brought the rights for producing the variety apple and it is still widely available today. The world record for the heaviest apple is held by a Kent farmer who produced a 3lb 11oz apple from a Howgate Wonder in 1994.
