LONGNEY
The Trust’s orchards at Longney alongside the River Severn consist of two old, traditional orchards which have existed for well over 100 years, an old remnant orchard that has recently been replanted with a comprehensive collection of Gloucestershire’s apples and another adjacent field recently planted with rare varieties of cherry, damson, gage and plum, plus the balance of the apple collection.
Longney Orchards
The two old orchards, called Long Tyning and Bollow, contain over 200 veteran trees consisting of more than 35 varieties of apple, pear and plum. The newly planted collections in Middle and Lower orchards contain the 80+ different varieties that make up our Gloucestershire apple collection, 32 varieties of plum, 9 varieties of damson, 9 varieties of cherry, plus a few gage. All told, it’s an unique and valuable collection of fruit trees.
The old byre between Long Tyning and Bollow has been repaired, for use as a base for our work, as a place for shelter during bad weather and a place to rest and relax. Bollow orchard also contains the derelict remains of one of the last Severn Fish Houses still standing alongside the river, dating back to the mid-1700s. Even older are the traces of an ancient flood wall, dating back to Roman times. Taken together, this collection of four orchards is beautiful, tranquil and an oasis of biodiversity – 85 species of bird have been spotted here over the past few years. But at 18 acres / 7 hectares in size, there is a lot to do to keep it well maintained, so volunteers to help out at one of our regular orchard maintenance days are always welcome (we meet on the 4th Saturday every month, 10am – 1pm).
