A History of Pear Growing in the UK

The cultivation of pears goes back some 4,000 years. It is likely that they originated in the Caucasus region from where they spread west to Europe and east to Asia.

In Ancient times the pear was considered superior to the apple and outnumbered it in varieties grown. By 300 B.C. techniques such as grafting and cross-pollination of pears were known in Greece.

The first English pears of note to arise from controlled breeding were Fertility (1875 by Rivers of Sawbridgeworth) and Improved Fertility (in 1934 by Seabrooks at Boreham). Conference, the most widely planted commercial pear in England, was introduced by Rivers in 1894.

The breeding of some pears at the research stations has not received the same attention as apples but some new varieties have been introduced, eg the Bristol Cross and the Merton Pride. By the 1980s the number of varieties grown commercially became very limited and Conference is now the leading variety representing over 90% of commercial production in this country. Imported pears account for around 80% of consumption.

• Willams pears - golden yellow or red-tinged, juicy and sweet but with a firm texture, good for cooking.
• With a long, thin shape and russet skin, Conference pears have very sweet and juicy flesh.
• Comice is a French variety viewed by many to be the best pear. Tender, aromatic and richly-flavoured.

The pears cultivated in Europe are thought to have arisen from Pyrus communis which is a native of Europe and Northern Asia and is found growing wild in Britain. This species probably wasn’t indigenous to Britain. There has probably been natural cross-hybridisation in the wild between P. communis and P. korschinskyi and P. heterophylla. In Japan and China cultivated pears developed from P. serotina which is not used at all in Europe. In the United States, a variey of P. serotina, the Chinese Sand Pear, was one of the parents of the Kieffer pear, a poor quality pear widely used for canning.

Tacitus implies in some of his writings that pears were cultivated in Britain at the time of the Roman occupation. Charlemagne (circa 800) issued a list of plants to be cultivated which included pears. In Britain however, definite records are not available until after the Norman Conquest. The Domesday Book of 1086 mentions old pear trees several times as boundary markers, implying their cultivation before this period.

Court accounts in the reign of Henry III (1207-72) show that pears were imported from France and for many years French varieties dominated English orchards. Pears were imported from the La Rochelle area of France which was famed for its pears.
Eleanor of Provence, wife of Henry III, developed extensive orchards and there is a record in 1262 of the court gardener planting six Cailhou (Cailloel) pear trees. Eleanor of Castille, wife of Edward I, was a keen gardener. In the court accounts for 1276-92 the following pear types were noted: Kaylewell (Calswel); Rewel (de Regula); and Pesse-Pucelle. Kaylewell was a synonym for the Caillou and was seen as a pear fit only for baking but was very popular with the royal family at the time. Other pear varieties noted at this time were: Martins; Dreyes; Sorells; Gold-Knopes; Regul; and Chyrfall.

Sometime before 1388 the first important English pear variety, the Wardon, was introduced by Cistercian Monks at Wardon in Bedfordshire. It was widely used for pies, which became known as Wardon pies.

At the start of the 17th century new varieties were being constantly introduced from Europe. Parkinson described 65 varieties most of which seem to have been recent introductions. Few of the varieties he mentions are grown today. Those that are include the Gergonell (now known as the Jargonelle), Catherine, Winter Bon Chrétien, Windsor and the Bergamot.

Up until the 17th century pears had been grown grafted onto pear stocks, or crab apple stocks, or even hawthorne stocks. Sir Thomas Hanmer and his friend, John Evelyn, were amongst the first in England to realise the value of grafting onto quince stock, which is now the preferred method of propagation. This practice was already widespread in France and probably originated there.
Britain already had a great many varieties of pears before the upsurge in breeding in Belgium. In 1770 one of the most important varieties still in cultivation today was developed. It was the William’s Bon Chrétien bred by Stair, a schoolmaster at Aldermaston in Berkshire. This pear was taken to the USA in 1797 by James Carter of Boston. It was planted at an estate in Massachusetts and in 1817 Enoch Bartlett of Dorchester, Massachusetts took over the estate containing these pears and sold them under his own name as Bartletts, not knowing the true name. They quickly became one of the leading varieties in the USA.

At the start of the 19th century Thomas Andrew Knight began developing pear varieties. The Royal Horticultural Society encouraged pear growing and in 1826 had 622 varieties growing in the gardens at Chiswick, rising to 627 in 1831. Another French pear became one of the major varieties grown in Britain, the Doyenne du Comice, grown by the Horticultural Society of Maine et Loire at Angers in 1849.

The first English pears of note to arise from controlled breeding were Fertility (1875 by Rivers of Sawbridgeworth) and Improved Fertility (in 1934 by Seabrooks at Boreham). Conference, the most widely planted commercial pear in England, was introduced by Rivers in 1894. Other British pears grown on a limited scale include Dr. Jules Guvot, and Packham’s Triumph. Laxton Brothers of Bedford became breeders of some of the country’s leading varieties, their best known variety was Laxton Superb introduced in 1913.

The breeding of some pears at the research stations has not received the same attention as apples but some new varieties have been introduced, eg the Bristol Cross and the Merton Pride. By the 1980s the number of varieties grown commercially became very limited and Conference is now the leading variety representing over 90% of commercial production in this country. Imported pears account for around 80% of consumption.

Compiled by Gillian Grafton