“Orchards of Eastern England” by Gerry Barnes

From mediaeval times orchards would have been a common feature in Stowupland from a few fruit trees in cottage gardens to larger plots adjacent to farmhouses. In a rental from 1552 a John Randall was paying rent for “one acre of land lyinge at the ende of his orchard”.

These orchards were small, providing enough fruit for the household’s needs with perhaps a small surplus that could be sold. The trees would be mostly apples but also pears, cherry, plums and nuts. A large number of small orchards was still the norm in 1839, when about 30 orchards are listed in the tithe apportionment for Stowupland of that year, with an average area of just half an acre. Large scale commercial fruit farming took off around 1850 with several national companies becoming established in East Anglia, including Wilkins Jam at Tiptree, Gaymers cider in Attleborough and Chivers in Cambridgeshire and more locally Aspal Cyder.

When foreign imports made fruit farming less profitable, efforts to cut costs included a fruit packing station in Mill Street run by Mid-Suffolk Growers Ltd. Formed in 1960, this co-operative included 23 farms by 1966 with an acreage of 276 acres of fruit. Another cost saving scheme was pick-your-own. Today, many of the old orchards have been grubbed up, but we still have the remnants of a few orchards and of course, we can buy plums from the old caravan near the co-op for a few days every year.