Although apple orchards were established in England by the Romans, there is no evidence of cider making until the Norman Conquest. Cider making was certainly established in Europe before then. One of the earliest references to it was by Charlemagne at the beginning of the 9th century.
After the Norman Conquest there are definite records of cider production in the monasteries of England. In the main apple growing counties, including Kent, Somerset and Hampshire, most manors had their own cider presses and made their own cider. Monasteries regularly sold cider to the public. At Battle Abbey in Sussex records show that, in 1369, 3 tuns of cider were sold for 55 shillings.
In medieval times, cider making was an important industry in Kent, and in the time of Henry II Kentish cider mills were noted for their strong spiced cider. Workers in the monastery orchards in the 13th century received a daily allowance of cider as part of their wages, a practice continued until very recently in the west of England.
jugs of cider into the orchards, drank a health to the trees and the anticipated next year's crop, and poured cider around the tree roots. During the wassailing a great deal of noise was created by banging pots and pans. Wheat flour cakes were eaten at these ceremonies and small pieces of the cake were dipped in cider and placed in the forks of the trees as a thanksgiving to the spirit of the tree.
The usual method of harvesting apples was to send men with long slender poles or rods (polting lugs) to beat the trees. Women with baskets then collected the fallen fruit. I have recently visited a cider farm in Somerset where they use tractors to shake the trees, pile muddy fruit onto trailers and tip into a trough where they are roughly washed before being scratted (chopped up) and pressed – I was surprised that the cider was so nice.
Following the attention given to the improvement of cider during the 18th century, there was much planting of cider apples in Herefordshire, Gloucestershire, Somerset, and Devon. Cider was very popular and on farms in the West Country workers received a daily allocation of cider as part of their wages. Cider was supplied to ships in Bristol harbour and was often shipped by sea from Devon to London. Once in London it was often adulterated and sold as imported wine.
Attention began to be paid to cider apple varieties. The Foxwhelp, which appeared in the mid 17th century, became popular and was used in the finest ciders. According to Hugh Staffor, the Styre or Stiar apple was noted for producing a bold, masculine, and strong cider and at one time was almost the only apple esteemed for producing rough cider. In Devon at the beginning of the 18th century, Royal Wilding came into prominence. Other varieties were also developed such as Meadgate, White-Sour, the Irish Cockagee, and Elliot. Somerset, not reknowned for good cider until then, gave rise to the most famous cider apple of all, the Kingston Black (Black Taunton).
In 1903 apple varieties included Foxwhelp in Herefordshire, Sweet Alford and Woodbine in Devon, Morgan's Sweet in Somerset and Kingston Black. The National Fruit and Cider Institute ran extensive trials in the mid 1930s leading to the widespread use of Yarlington Mill, a seedling raised in Somerset at the end of the 19th century.
The Holmesdale Brewery in Wadhurst (1874 – 1912) besides a range of beers also produced cider, but the quantity and mix are unknown at this time.
The 20th century has led to a marked change to factory production of cider in Britain. Factories buy fruit from France and now import concentrated apple juice from abroad. There has been some interest
Cider Making
A Normandy apple press
Apple orchards were extensively planted in Kent (and the East Sussex border regions) in the 16th and 17th centuries. The growing of apples was also well advanced in Herefordshire, Gloucestershire, and Worcestershire. The bulk of these apples was used for cider making. The building of canals in the late 18th century expanded the market for cider. By the end of the century it was estimated that 10 000 hogsheads (1 hogshead = 110 gallons) of cider were exported each year from Worcestershire alone.
Cider and apples were widely regarded as having health giving properties. Cider drinking was widely supposed to promote longevity as this chorus from a Devonshire cider drinking song shows:
I were brought up on cider
And I be a hundred and two
But still that be 'nuthin when you come to think
Me father and mother be still in the pink
And they were brought up on cider
Of the rare old Tavistock brew
And me Granfer drinks quarts
For he's one of the sports
That were brought up on cider too
Other traditions are associated with cider, most notably the Wassail. Farmers and farm workers used to salute the apple trees in a ceremony known as wassailing. Wassail or Wass Hal means Be Thou of Good Health. The time of the wassail varied from Christmas Eve to Twelfth Night. Participants carried
