'Tom Putt' is a traditional variety of dual purpose apple, often used as a

cider apple Cider apples are a group of apple cultivars grown for their use in the production of cider (referred to as "hard cider" in the United States). Cider apples are distinguished from "cookers" and "eaters", or dessert apples, by their bitterness or ...

, originating in

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

. It was also known as Ploughman, Coalbrook, Marrowbone, Thomas Jeffreys and by many other local names.Copas, L. ''Somerset Pomona: The Cider Apples of Somerset'', Dovecote Press, 2001, p.65Taylor, H. V. ''The Apples of England'', Lockwood, 1946, p.58

Origin

The apple is associated with Combe House in

Gittisham Gittisham is a village and civil parish in East Devon, Devon, England, near Honiton. The village is from Ottery St Mary and it has a church called St Michael. The parish is surrounded, clockwise from the north, by the parishes of Awliscombe, Ho ...

. According to correspondence sent to ''Devon and Cornwall Notes and Queries'', the apple Tom Putt was supposed to have been named for an 18th-century landowner, Thomas Putt of Combe, who died in 1787 and was nicknamed "Black Tom".Amery (ed). ''Devon and Cornwall Notes and Queries'' v7, pt 1 (1913), 64 Putt, a

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, is reputed to have perfected the variety and is also said to have won prizes for his fruit trees at agricultural fairs in

Honiton Honiton () is a market town and civil parish in East Devon, situated close to the River Otter, Devon, River Otter, north east of Exeter in the county of Devon. Honiton has a population estimated at 12,154 (based on 2021 census). History The ...

.History of Combe House
accessed 02-09-15 However older growers in Somerset, according to Harold Taylor in ''The Apples of England'', told a story that the Putt commemorated by the apple was a

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

, Rev. Thomas Putt of Trent, a nephew of Thomas Putt of Combe.Sandison, A. ''Trent in Dorset'', Friary Press, 1969, p.89 It is possible that "Black Tom" Putt first developed the variety and subsequently gave a tree to his nephew.

Characteristics

Tom Putt was grown widely across Devon and Somerset for many years, in gardens as well as orchards, leading to it being nicknamed the "Cottage Apple". Although due to this wide propagation it is now somewhat variable in form it is usually a red-streaked apple of medium size. It is an early-bearing

triploid Polyploidy is a condition in which the cells of an organism have more than two paired sets of ( homologous) chromosomes. Most species whose cells have nuclei (eukaryotes) are diploid, meaning they have two complete sets of chromosomes, one fro ...

variety, classed as a "sharp" type under the usual classification of

s. Although primarily a cider apple, Tom Putt can also be used as a cooking or eating apple. Taylor, who stated that it "looks attractive on the table as dessert, and has a characteristic sharp flavour of its own" noted that it was used for all three purposes in

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

References

{{Apples, state=collapsed Apple cultivars British apples