The black Worcester pear (also known as Parkinson's Warden and the Worcester Black Pear) is a cultivar of the

European pear ''Pyrus communis'', the common pear, is a species of pear native to central and eastern Europe, and western Asia. It is one of the most important fruits of temperate regions, being the species from which most orchard pear cultivars grown in Eur ...

(''Pyrus communis''), it may have come to the UK via the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

, but also has been used in heraldry and around the city of

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

. The dark fruit is mainly used for cooking or culinary uses.

History

It is thought it may have come to the UK by the

and was first mentioned at the Cistercian built Abbey of Warden in

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council ...

in the 13th century. It may also be linked to the French pear ‘de Livre’. 'Black Worcester' was recorded as being grown by monks at the Abbey as early as 1388. As a long keeping fruit, it formed an important part of the winter diet until root-crops were introduced. The fruit is larger than average and the flesh hard and coarse, but is reported to be excellent when stewed. It may also have been used to make

perry Perry, also known as pear cider, is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented pears, traditionally the perry pear. It has been common for centuries in England, particularly in Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire. It is also mad ...

. In the 1990s and 2000s,

Worcestershire County Council Worcestershire County Council is the county council for the non-metropolitan county of Worcestershire in England. The most recent elections to it were in 2021. Worcestershire County Council has its headquarters at County Hall in Worcester, w ...

created a 'Fruit Trees for Worcestershire' scheme, in which several hundred young black pear trees were planted. The cultivar is a tentatively accepted name by the RHS.

Heraldry

Pears formed part of the provisions of the troops at Agincourt in 1415, where

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...

bowmen carried banners depicting a pear tree laden with fruit.

Michael Drayton Michael Drayton (1563 – 23 December 1631) was an English poet who came to prominence in the Elizabethan era. He died on 23 December 1631 in London. Early life Drayton was born at Hartshill, near Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England. Almost nothin ...

's poem of the battle, notes “Wor’ster a pear tree laden with its fruit”. On

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...

's visit to the city of Worcester in August 1575, the city authorities ordered a black pear fruit-laden tree to be transplanted to the Foregate from Whystone Farm, in her honour. So admiring was she of the good management that had allowed the fruit to remain unplucked that she granted an augmentation of honour of a canton charged with "three pears sable" to be added to the city's coat of arms. Up until 1956, the Worcestershire Yeomanry Cavalry have used an image of the pear blossom for badges. It is still used on the County Council and County Cricket Club badge. Specific varieties of pear are seldom mentioned in heraldic

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The vi ...

s, although "Warden pears" are blazoned as

canting arms Canting arms are heraldic bearings that represent the bearer's name (or, less often, some attribute or function) in a visual pun or rebus. French heralds used the term (), as they would sound out the name of the armiger. Many armorial all ...

for the family of Warden. Pears feature in the canting arms of the families of Parincheff and Periton.

Warden Pear

The name of 'Warden pear' may refer to any one of a number of

pear Pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and harvested in the Northern Hemisphere in late summer into October. The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus ''Pyrus'' , in the family Rosaceae, bearing the po ...

varieties that do not truly ripen and must therefore be cooked to be edible. They are used to make "Warden pies"; "I must have Saffron to colour the Warden Pies" (Shakespeare, ''

The Winter's Tale ''The Winter's Tale'' is a play by William Shakespeare originally published in the First Folio of 1623. Although it was grouped among the comedies, many modern editors have relabelled the play as one of Shakespeare's late romances. Some crit ...

'' iv.3). In ''Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books'', edited by Thomas Austin for the

Early English Text Society The Early English Text Society (EETS) is a text publication society founded in 1864 which is dedicated to the editing and publication of early English texts, especially those only available in manuscript. Most of its volumes contain editions of ...

(Original Series, Volume 91), a recipe is given (p. 51) for " Quyncis or Wardouns in past" Also known as 'Parkinson's Warden'.

Description

The fruits are up to 78mm (3″) wide and 85mm long, and can weigh as much as 260g. The skin is a dark mahogany colour with russet freckles and small areas of rough skin. The flesh is a pale yellow or cream, tinged green under the skin. They should be picked in October or early November, when it is crisp, hard and gritty then they can be stored until April. This does not require refrigeration, hence why they were so valuable in the past, as they could be used by troops when on long-distance travels. They are also sharp and bitter until cooked. There are many old recipes involving the black pears. They have good disease resistance and some Scab resistance.

References

Pear cultivars {{fruit-stub