
Keswick Codlin
Apple – National Heritage

Type
Apple – National Heritage
Harvest
Early Season
Uses
Culinary
Planting Position
E5
Planted in our Orchard to celebrate the Coronation of King Charles III (funded by the Coronation Living Heritage Fund). Trained as an espalier and selected for its hardy nature and tolerance of shaded positions. Keswick Codlin is an old, heavy cropping early cooking apple. Pale green-yellow with a slightly darker yellow flush. Found on a compost heap at Gleaston Castle, Nr Ulverston, Lancashire in 1793, and distributed by John Sander of Keswick. Originally an ingredient in the national dish 'codlins and cream'. The name derived from to 'coddle' or parboil, a process used to retain the apples shape. Very juicy and refreshing when eaten raw and needing little sugar when cooked. Popular as a decorative tree because of its very pretty blossom and neat growth. Heavy crops, which store for a month or two. It was widely grown in Yorkshire as well as Cumbria, where it was valued for tarts as early as July. It was common to use many different codlins well before they were ripe. Rogers (1837) said the apples could be used when no bigger than a walnut.