Orchards and Groves: Their History, Ecology, Culture and Archaeology

Orchards and Groves: Their History, Ecology, Culture and Archaeology Edited by Ian D. Rotherham Orchards and Groves: Their History, Ecology, Culture and Archaeology Landscape Archaeology and Ecology, Vol. 7, 2008 Orchards and Groves: Their History, Ecology, Culture and Archaeology Edited by Ian D. Rotherham ISSN 1354-0262 ISBN 978-1-904098-09-6 Published by: Wildtrack Publishing, Venture House, 105 Arundel Street, Sheffield, S1 2NT Typeset and processed by: Diane Harrison and Christine Handley Printed by: B&B Press (Parkgate) Rotherham Supported by: Biodiversity and Landscape History Research Institute, Hallam Environmental Consultants Ltd, Tourism and Environmental Change Research Unit at Sheffield Hallam University, IUFRO. © Wildtrack Publishing and the individual authors All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. 4 Orchards and Groves: Their History, Ecology, Culture and Archaeology Contents An Introduction to Orchards and Groves: their History, Ecology Culture and Archaeology Ian D. Rotherham 6 Chestnut Orchards in the Monitoring System of Tuscan Landscape Prof. Mauro Agnoletti 9 The Special Importance of Traditional Orchards for Invertebrate Conservation, with a Case Study of the BAP Priority Species the Noble Chafer Gnorimus nobilis Keith N.A. Alexander 11 Rejuvenating Traditional Orchards, How Multidisciplinary Landscape Partnership Schemes Can Serve as a Vehicle for Restoration – Wyre Forest, West Midlands, United Kingdom G. Atkinson and R.A. Winnall 18 Mistletoe – an Ancient Specialist of Orchards and Groves Jonathan Briggs 22 Traditional Orchard Survey – Mapping England’s Traditional Orchards Anita Burrough and Heather Robertson 25 Save our Orchards - One Insight into the First Two Decades of a Campaign Sue Clifford 31 Orchards in The National Trust: an Overview of their History, Economics, Wildlife and People Lucy Cordrey, David J. Bullock, Simon Barker, David Bouch and Chris Groves 41 Orchards: “A Perfect Alliance of Man and Nature” Jackie Denman 51 Chinese Apple Sector a Growing Economy - Village Cooperatives and International Markets Jane Eastham 53 Ancient Orchards on the Banks of the River Tay Crispin W. Hayes 62 Lichens in Orchards Albert Henderson 75 Tamar Valley Orchards Peter Herring 85 Herefordshire Orchards Community Evaluation Project Dave Marshall 95 Old Orchards, New Possibilities Barry Potter 100 Traditional Orchards and the UK Biodiversity Action Plan Heather Robertson and Chris Wedge 108 The Origins of Orchards and Cider and Perry in England, with particular reference to Herefordshire Rebecca Roseff 118 Orchards and Groves: a misunderstood and threatened resource Ian D. Rotherham 128 Colwall Orchards Project Helen Stace 137 Traditional orchards: threats and opportunities within the planning system for Herefordshire and Worcestershire R. Widdicombe 142 Orchards – Learning from the Past R Williams 155 5 Orchards and Groves: Their History, Ecology, Culture and Archaeology An Introduction to Orchards and Groves: their History, Ecology Culture and Archaeology Ian D. Rotherham Sheffield Hallam University Introduction the Tourism and Environmental Change This volume presents the papers from the major Research Institute at Sheffield Hallam three-day conference held at Sheffield Hallam University. In 2003 we held a major event on University in September 2008. The reasons for ancient woodlands, Working and Walking in the holding the event include the fascinating social, Footsteps of Ghosts, which brought together economic, cultural and culinary aspects of practitioners and researchers from across orchards and groves. However, they also include Europe and was then followed by a series of the issues of conservation and the often seminars, workshops, conferences and neglected or overlooked ecology. Especially publications on the theme. These culminated in during the late twentieth century these unique the 2008 publication of the Woodland Heritage landscapes and landscape-features came under a Manual. Then in 2005 we organised a major degree of threat that was formerly unknown and national conference on Crisis and Continuum in unprecedented. Both orchards and their fruit the Shaping of Landscapes to place the wooded trees have been lost with regional varieties and other landscapes into a broader time-frame committed to extinction and generally of human cultural impacts and influences. The unrecognised local and regional diversity simply 2007 conference on The History, Ecology and allowed to slip into oblivion. Yet it is absolutely Archaeology of Medieval Parks and Parklands clear from recent projects, campaigns and attempted to bring cross-disciplinary approaches publications that there is a great interest in old to this most fascinating of topics. However, fruit varieties and in the landscapes and cultures emerging from these gradually evolving themes that produced them. Indeed this event and its was the sad fact that orchards and groves, book do not seek to duplicate or replicate the however defined, were seriously neglected but efforts of others. Numerous organisations (too important components of these wider landscapes many to mention them all individually) have and especially of their socio-economic systems. driven the public awareness of traditional fruit Discussion with other workers suggested that and the historic and cultural significance of this was a neglected but potentially ‘fruitful’ orchard trees and their produce. Common line of research and activity. Ground for example have been hugely It is interesting how orchards and groves and influential in safeguarding and in some cases their trees are neglected and overlooked. A reinventing a passion for tradition and once casual conversation with a senior regional commonplace fruits. But this event and the officer of the National Trust for example book try to bring together a wider perspective suggested that they ‘…don’t have any orchards and to place orchards, groves and their produce in the north of England’ and so probably into a context of landscape history, ecology, wouldn’t be interested in the 2008 event. I’m conservation and tourism. It is these links and sure that this view has been put right by the inter-relationships that seem to be weak and presentation from the National Trust at the often under-valued. conference, but I think the issue relates to our perceptions of ‘an orchard’. In this person’s Context mind it was obviously a great orchard of The event and the book follow a theme that has Somerset or Kent with cider apples, pears or been developed by the Biodiversity and similar commercial produce. Yet my interest and Landscape History Research Institute and by that of the book and the meeting is on the place 6 Orchards and Groves: Their History, Ecology, Culture and Archaeology of fruit trees in the wider landscape. Every farm immediate threat. Indeed most have gone or had its own orchard, and every significant house been damaged already and this neglect is or hall similarly. So just with these alone, an spreading right across Europe. organisation such as the Trust must have a wealth of fruit trees in its northern portfolio. In September 2008, Sheffield Hallam Perhaps it is all a matter of perception and it is University hosted a major international from this context that the event and the book conference to address key issues surrounding evolved. the fascinating subject of orchards and groves. In many ways a neglected topic, and with a Orchards and fruit trees are of huge resource that is in danger of being lost, this was economic importance but also of massive a landmark event. It brought together ecological, landscape and cultural significance. practitioners and researchers from across the Yet with a lack of recognition in planning UK and around Europe too, to discuss the systems and even by many researchers and history, culture and wildlife associated with conservationists, much of this is overlooked and orchards and groves. sites and trees are still being destroyed. This is a part of the whole major issue of cultural The three-day conference addressed this severance and irreparable damage to our important but poorly-documented or researched heritage. Sites range from individual ancient area, speakers and authors presenting topics fruit trees, to farm-based orchards neglected and fundamental to the conservation of these abandoned, to major commercial orchards. In wonderful and iconic landscape features. The many cases nobody knows they are there and if conference was international in flavour and they do, then often the importance and the covered a range of subjects from fruit-growing threats are not realised. This is a significant orchards to the cultural significance of forest issue and it affects everyone who has tasted the and woodland groves, their products and uses. sumptuous flavour of a local apple or pear, or Keynote speakers included Sue Clifford who as a child has ‘scrumped’ fruit from an old (Director of Common Ground), Dr Keith garden, or who has an old fruit tree at the Alexander (Ancient Tree Forum), Professor bottom of the garden. But it is much more than Mauro Agnoletti (University of Florence), and this since local and regional orchards were very Dr Ian Rotherham (Sheffield Hallam important in every village, town, and city until University). Speakers from Natural England, the relatively

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