Origin and History
Loddington
Loddington is a large, handsome cooking apple, reputed to have originated in Bath and been brought to the farm of a Robert Stone in Loddington, near Maidstone in about 1820 by Robert's young niece. Eventually, the variety came to the attention of a Mr Lewis Killick, who introduced it commercially under the name Loddington, although it was more commonly known as Stone's Apple or Killick's Apple in Kent, where it was grown for the London markets. Loddington received a First
Class Certificate from the RHS in 1877.
It is now rare, especially outside the south-east of England.
Fruit
The broad, heavy fruit has a mildly acid flavour and soft, juicy, fine-textured flesh. The skin is smooth and shiny, grass-green on the tree, but turning yellow, flushed and streaked with crimson once picked. The whole apple is scattered with minute russet dots
Picking, Storing and Using
Loddington should be picked in September for use as a cooking apple through to the end of November. The Victorian pomologist Dr Robert Hogg noted Loddington was prized in Kent for making apple dumplings.
Growth, Flowering and Pollination
The tree is compact for an old variety. It matures quickly and is a heavy cropper. Once it has started to fruit Loddington makes little new wood and does not throw up many water-shoots. The blossom is very attractive.
It is self-sterile and needs a pollinator, such as Allington Pippin, Discovery, or Dumelow's Seedling.
Copyright © Karen Meadows 2018
Loddington Farm still grows apples and has been run by the Smith family since 1880.
There is an excellent specimen of Loddington at Sulgrave Manor in Northamptonshire, planted in 1927 by Sir Reginald Blomfield.
