HERITAGE MAGAZINE

Jersey applesand ciderApple orchards and cider making are an intrinsic part of Jersey history, having transformed thelandscape, culture and economy of the island at one time. A cider fair held at Hamptonne countrylife museum in October celebrates the crop which Julia Coutanche explains was once the Island’smost famous product.

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DURING THE EARLY 19THcentury no Jersey table was consideredcomplete without a bottle of cider, andapple orchards filled the countryside.Cider was the island’s biggest exportand the “national crop” well before thearrival of the Jersey Royal. At theheight of popularity, the quality ofboth Jersey apples and the cider washeld in high esteem in France and theUK but having remained popular forabout 200 years, the crop quickly wentinto decline and only a handful oforchards remain.

The first recorded evidence of ciderin Jersey dates from the 15th centurybut it was probably made here longbefore that for local consumption. Inmid 17th century Britain, whenexisting agriculture went into adecline, cider was seen as analternative source of revenue.Orchards were planted andcider soon became thechampagne of Britain andthe national drink - thewealthy drinking vintageand the rest of societydrinking farmhouse cider.In Jersey the planting oforchards and cidermaking grew rapidlyonce the potential forprofit making wasrealised and itdeveloped into athriving local industry.Up until World War I,cider was an integral partof day-to-day life in Jerseyand the most commonmeal-time beverage,particularly on farms.

In 1682 JeanPoingdestre wrote in hisCaesarea: “There is hardly ahouse in the island, except inSt Helier, that did not have anorchard of from one to twovergées sufficient to produce anaverage of 20 hogsheads a year”(one hogshead was the equivalentof 54 gallons). In his History ofJersey of 1692 Falle comments “I do

not think there is a country in theWorld that, in the same extent ofground, produces so much cider asJersey does, not even Normandyitself… Nor is there better, larger andmore generous fruit than what growsin this Island.”

The extent of orchard growing andcider making had a dramatic effect onJersey’s landscape, evident in the fieldstructure and patterns that exist today.These were developed from the needto provide shelter to crops fromprevailing winds. Previously, cerealhad grown in large unenclosed fieldsbut each field used for growing appleswas enclosed, usually with a solid earthbank covered

by a hedge on either side. Lanesreached into the small fields and beganto look as they do now. Hence Jersey’sfield pattern is similar to that of thePays de Caux cider-producing regionin France.

The extent of orchards in Jersey isgraphically illustrated by theRichmond map of 1795. About 16percent of the total land area wasorchards, mostly apples. The numberof orchards varied from parish toparish, with fewer in the west than inthe east, the smallest amount in St Ouen (4.5 percent of land) and thelargest in St Saviour (36 percent ofland).

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Historian Joan Stevens explainsthat the number of orchards alsotransformed the economy, which hadrelied on subsistence farms forcenturies and suddenly discovered thevalue of exports, mainly through thecider industry. By the late 17thcentury, corn growing had almostcompletely been replaced by applecultivation and so the island was nolonger self-sufficient in grain. Locallyproduced cider was being exported toEngland and importation of cider andcider apples from Normandy wasprohibited. In 1673 the States ofJersey prohibited new orchardsbecause they were causing a reductionin the King’s revenues due to fallingtithes and the cost of importing grain.Only trees that replaced existing onescould be planted.

By 1790 Reverend Francis LeCouteur, founder of the first JerseyAgricultural Society and cider expert,

estimated that 30,000 to 35,000barrels of cider were being producedannually – 20,000 for localconsumption and the rest for export.

By 1815 cider produced in Jersey isrecorded by Thomas Quayle as “ingreat esteem” and “a leading articleamong its exports”. The Cider applemost generally favoured was a native

species called Romeril from a family ofthat name in the Island, by whom itwas first grafted from the wild stock. Itwas hailed as “an abundant and certainbearer”. Other varieties of apple alsorecommended included L’Ameret auGentilhomme, Redstreak, Lucas andLomey. In 1859 more of the applescommonly grown for cider wererecorded - Noir Binet, Petit Jean,Limon, Pepin Jacob, Carré, Bretagneand de France.

Apple yields tend to fluctuate –with a good year usually followed by abad one – so cider making is anuncertain activity. In 1680 there wereso many apples that there wereinsufficient barrels in the Island tohold the cider that could be made. As aresult many apples rotted. Some farmsinstalled stills used for producing aneau de vie in years of apple glut. Incontrast, 1827 and 1831 are recordedas years of complete failure when even

table fruit had to be imported fromEngland. The quantities exportedvaried from year to year but apple andcider exports continued to increasesteadily in the first half of the 19thcentury, as did the product’s qualityand esteem.

However, by the mid 1850s theimportance of cider was already in

decline. In 1854 St Helier’s Pommed’Or Hotel had replaced cider withbeer - because of high prices, forced upby the market in England. In spite ofthe product’s excellent reputation thisdecline in local cider production was asrapid as the increase had been 200years before.

Records show that for the years1852 to 1855 cider exports averaged150,000 gallons (though this was onlyabout one tenth of annual production,with the rest consumed locally!) Thisdropped to 35,000 gallons ten yearslater and by 1875 this had reduced tobelow 3,000 gallons of export. Thiswas the last year in which cider exportwas recorded. Around this time, manyorchards were felled to make way forgrowing potatoes, a crop with a moreconsistent yield. Records show thatexports of potatoes were rising steadily,from 4,000 tons in 1866 to 28,000tons in 1875.

For a long time French seasonalworkers on farms were paid partly withlocally produced cider and, as inEngland, large quantities were drunkduring the working day, especially atharvest time. Stoneware jugs of ciderwould be filled from the barrel andcarried to the fields. In the 20thcentury the increasing mechanisationof agriculture made drinking at workdangerous and illegal, but farmers stillsupplied cider for the French workerswho came to pick potatoes until atleast the 1940s. Fewer Norman andBreton seasonal farm workers came toJersey in the second half of the 20thcentury, and by the 1980s they hadbeen replaced by workers fromMadeira and Portugal and mostrecently from Poland - nationalitiesthat are not known for their ciderdrinking.

The 20th century saw a majordecline in British orchards - due tochanges in agricultural practice anddevelopment for housing, industry androads. Around 150,000 acres oforchard in Britain have been destroyedsince 1960. In Jersey the decline thatbegan with the popularity of growing

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Farmworkers crushing the apples in an outdoor cider mill. (Société Jersiaise)

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Farmworkers with one of the metal single screw cider presses, which were common in the Island by the 19th century. (Société Jersiaise)

the profitable Jersey Royal, after aslight revival in growing apples andmaking cider during the Occupation,accelerated after the Liberation whenland became more valuable. Land thathad been used for orchards for theprevious 50 years was very fertile andmore orchards turned over to thepotato. Then the storm of 1947

uprooted many of the remaining appletrees. Freight costs of exporting applesand cider prevented farmers being ableto compete with increased productionin west counties of England. So from1938 when there were 1,200 vergéesof orchard in Jersey and cider appleorchards could be seen near everyfarmhouse, in just 30 years this hadgone down to just 173 vergées oforchard in Jersey.

Traditional orchards are valuablehabitats for wildlife, so their loss has anegative impact on natureconservation. Although there are2,300 apple varieties in the NationalFruit Collection, only 30 are growncommercially and about five applevarieties now dominate UK orchards.Britain imports 60% of applesconsumed, from its French neighboursand from as far away as New Zealand,South Africa and Chile - countries thattend to prioritise quantity over quality.

The trade group British Apples andPears reports a decline from 1,500registered growers in 1987 to just 500today; and while Somerset stillsuccessfully produces apples and sellsits cider, Jersey cider is a rarity andthere are just a handful of orchardsremaining…

However, the popularity and

appreciation of diversity is inascendancy and apples have regainedsome of their former glory. In 1989Environmental and Arts CharityCommon Ground launched the SaveOur Orchards campaign resulting inold orchards being replanted andrestored all over Britain. It was atabout this time in Jersey that thereemerged an active appreciation of localcider apple varieties and a fear for theirimpending loss - accentuated bydamage done in the great storm ofOctober 1987.

This resulted in the forming of TheJersey Cider Apple Trust whosemainstays are the two apple experts,horticulturist Rosemary Bett andretired apple grower Brian Phillipps -representing the National Trust andthe Société Jersiaise. They instigatedresearch into old varieties and theplanting of an orchard to preservethem at Howard Davis Farm in Trinity.

This was followed by the planting of asmall orchard at Hamptonne - theNational Trust property in StLawrence which is cared for by theJersey Heritage Trust and whichopened to the public in May 1993. InNovember 2003 a third orchard wasplanted at the National Trustheadquarters in St Mary, the Elms.

Thanks to Common Ground, anational celebration of apples andorchards and the diversity of landscapeand culture linked to them takes placeannually on Apple Day - 21st October.Apple Days are marked with tastings,guided orchard walks and talks,cookery and pruning demonstrations,cider-making and apple bobbing,photographic exhibitions and recipeexchanges. Through thesecelebrations there has resulted arediscovery of old varieties.

In the 21st century cider continuesto be drunk across Britain, although itis nowhere near as popular as lager andother beers. Ironically considering herhistory, the cider that is available inmost Jersey pubs is the type that ismass-produced in England using appleconcentrate imported from China, itsflavour enhanced with added sugarsand preservatives, rather than thetotally natural product of yesteryear.As well as mass-produced cider fromEngland, bottled cider imported fromNormandy is offered for sale in someof Jersey’s supermarkets. APPLE is anofficial group within CAMRA - theCampaign for Real Ale - that activelysupports the revival of traditional cidermaking; and specialist cider-makers arecoming into their own.

In the 1980s eight people in Jerseywere known to be making cider, whichwas sampled by the Jersey Society inLondon. Very few of today’s farmersand growers make their own cider, andwhen they do it is not on a commercialscale and the small amounts of applesare more likely crushed by man ratherthan horsepower. One completelyorganic orchard currently at Sion isrun by Andrew Averty, who sells hisapples and makes juice and cider just

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Collecting the apples for cider making. (Société Jersiaise)

on a small scale for the consumption offamily and friends only.

Both The Young Farmers andl’Assembliée Jerriais have continued tomake the local speciality applesweetmeat Black Butter, so-calledbecause of its colour and the fact that itis most often eaten spread on bread.Associated with the cider-makingseason, it is very laborious and time-consuming to produce, involvingconstant stirring of the ingredients.The night on which it is made isknown as “La Sethée D’Nier Buerre”

and this year, thanks to the NationalTrust, viewing the 24-hour stirring willbe accessible to the general publicfrom Friday 22nd to Saturday 23rdOctober. Originally developed as away of preserving apples, Black Butteris now a delicacy. Along with cidersand an apple brandy, Black Butter isalso produced and sold at La MareVineyards in St Mary, promoted asGenuine Jersey produce and featuredas an ingredient on the sweet menus ofsome high class local restaurants.

Jersey’s apple heritage will beactively promoted at Hamptonneduring the last weekend in October, atthe annual La Fais’sie d’Cidre - a ciderfestival that includes traditional cidermaking. This has been extended to anisland-wide, week-long event with anassortment of apple-themed activitiesand visiting guest apple experts.Throughout the year, the JerseyHeritage Trust is organising apple-themed workshops. A paintingworkshop at blossom time, with localartist David Henley, previouslyattracted more than 20 adults to theorchard at Hamptonne in mid-May2004 and Brian Phillipps has shared his expertise through practicaldemonstrations of grafting techniques.This year three local schools andseveral adults have participated in

creative writing with James Crowden,Common Ground’s poet laureate,author, cider maker and apple expert.Last year’s inaugural apple-themedpoetry competition Pomme Poèmehad an overwhelming 327 entries,mostly from school children.

All the events associated with thecider festival are designed to bring thelocal apple the attention it deservesand recognition for the reputation ithas earned over the centuries.Ultimately the aim is to ensure thatthis aspect of Jersey heritage remainsprotected and preserved for futuregenerations.

La Fâis’sie d’Cidre takes place atHamptonne on 22 and 23 October2005.

Julia Coutanche is the JHTinterpretation co-ordinator. Tel: 633342Email:Julia.coutanche@jerseyheritagetrust.org

References & sources:The Rise and Decline of the Cider Industryin Jersey by Caroline Vane (thesis submittedfor BA (Hons) Geography degree -University of Birmingham February 1993)

Pommage by J G Speer (article in BulletinSociété Jersiaise Volume 20 1970)

Cider Making in the Channel Islands byMartyn Brown (article in Folk Life Volume25 1986-87)

Foreboding Fruit by Martin Hodgson(article in The Guardian Environment 26 November 2003)

The Boléats: a life in the best tradition ofJersey farming by Elaine Hanning (article inthe Jersey Evening Post Times Past 4 January 1993)

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Examining the ingredients for cider making at the Fâis’sied’Cidre at Hamptonne. (Jersey Evening Post)

Crushing the apples in the cider mill at the Fais’ sie d’Cidre at Hamptonne. ( J. Lord)

Cider fermenting in the barrels at Hamptonne.