Betchworth & Buckland Nature Trail
1 'The orchard & Goulburn Green'
1 'The orchard & Goulburn Green'
THE ORCHARD
The village orchard lies immediately south of the village green. Located just outside the walled garden, the orchard was most likely developed to provide apples to the Manor House more than 200 years ago. There are 7 mature apple trees in the orchard. In January the floor is covered with crocus. The trees blossom in April and apples form through the summer before harvesting in September.
The 7 Apple Trees are from the Paradise rootstocks, which can be traced back to Persia ( "Paradise" is thought to derive from the Persian word for garden or enclosed space — pairidaeza ). This rootstock gave traditional English orchards manageable trees suited to cottage gardens and village orchards like the one at Betchworth.
The orchard is the venue for the annual Wassailing event in January, a traditional luck-bringing custom often associated with cider producing apple orchards, dating back at least a few hundred years. The word has its origins in the Old English toast "waes hael", meaning Good Health and it involves a cider toast.
The 7 Apple Trees are from the Paradise rootstocks, which can be traced back to Persia ( "Paradise" is thought to derive from the Persian word for garden or enclosed space — pairidaeza ). This rootstock gave traditional English orchards manageable trees suited to cottage gardens and village orchards like the one at Betchworth.
The orchard is the venue for the annual Wassailing event in January, a traditional luck-bringing custom often associated with cider producing apple orchards, dating back at least a few hundred years. The word has its origins in the Old English toast "waes hael", meaning Good Health and it involves a cider toast.
GOULBURN GREEN
GOULBURN GREEN
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Betchworth Village Green carries the name of the family that originally owned the green but it was donated to the parish by Lord Hamilton in the 1980s and the green is now maintained by the Parish Council with the help of volunteers.
There are five impressive trees on the green - two beautiful Northern Red Oaks, two Cockspur Hawthorn, a holly tree and recently planted Rowan and Serviceberry trees. At the back of the green, by the brick wall of a former Georgian walled garden, is a 2 to 3m wide strip sown with wildflowers by the Re-Betchworth Charity in 2021 Awaiting species list |
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