The chalk stream in the orchard at Stapleford Granary
Our small orchard with a big history at Stapleford Granary
Tucked away behind the studios in the stable block at Stapleford Granary (home to ACE Cultural Tours) is a small orchard with a big history. Overlooking the Granary Brook, which is part of the River Granta chalk stream ecosystem, is our Heritage Orchard. Dating back to the 1930s, the fruit grown here was eaten at High Table at Corpus Christi College in the University of Cambridge, which used to own our site.
When The Association for Cultural Exchange acquired the site at Stapleford Granary from Corpus Christi College in 2009, some initial work was undertaken to manage the overgrown fruit trees in the orchard. Those that couldn’t be saved were cut down, and the wood left to decay to provide a home for frogs and insects. In 2014, some replacement fruit trees were planted, using old and/or local varieties with a view to recreating how the orchard might have been in the 1930s.
During the pandemic and the near total shutdown of Stapleford Granary, the orchard and the adjacent brook had once again become overgrown. While, on the one hand this was leaving the natural habitat undisturbed, much of the overgrowth was blocking light from the brook and stifling the vegetation that would best support the widest range of fauna and flora.
Over last winter 2023-24, we started a conservation project to manage the surviving trees in the orchard and to do our bit to protect the rare chalk stream habitat which borders our land. Much recent publicity has focused on the threat to the chalk streams in the UK due to human intervention and climate change. We took advice from conservationists, environmentalists and commissioned a site survey from our local Wildlife Trust to ensure that our clearance work would have the most beneficial effect. By the time the bird nesting season began in the spring and work halted, we had managed to clear much of the Granary’s historic cart wash and also remove overgrowth from the bank of the brook. The heavy rain over the winter and spring meant that the water level in the brook was the highest recorded for many years.
Within the orchard, specialist fruit growers have helped to identify the heritage trees. Apple varieties include D’Arcy Spice, which was first bred in Essex in the mid-18 th century. It was highly valued for its long storage qualities that allowed it to develop a ‘sweet spice’ flavour. Chivers Delight was bred in Histon, just outside Cambridge, in the 1920s by jam-makers Chivers & Sons. This lovely, sweet apple was much in favour in the early part of the 20th century. It is still grown commercially today for apple sauce. We also have some elderly varieties of plum and pear trees and an old grape vine (variety Dusty Miller – very much in keeping with its Granary history).
Orchards might just be one of our most successful collaborations with nature. They never occur by accident; they are always cultivated by humans. They are of critical importance for encouraging biodiversity, but they are disappearing at a catastrophic rate. To encourage visitors to Stapleford Granary to take an interest in the natural world of our site, we opened the Heritage Orchard to the public during the summer.
The continuing wet weather meant that, for once, the brook had not dried out to a boggy ditch. To avoid accidents, a wonderful artisanal picket fence was built for us from coppiced sweet chestnut trees. This natural timber is a genuinely renewable resource. The wood is untreated so there are no chemicals to leach into the fragile habitat of the brook.
At the time of writing, we are hoping that summer will finally arrive in Stapleford so that visitors to the orchard can pull out a rug, take a seat at our picnic benches and enjoy refreshments from our beautifully restored horse box.
The Natural World Discovery Room
To coincide with the opening of the orchard, and to illustrate how art and nature intertwine, we created a Discovery Room. Our aim was to explain the landscape on our doorstep with interactive displays about the natural world. Visitors have been able to listen to our Twittering Boxes before seeing if they can hear the same bird song outside in the orchard. Chloe Chapman is an emerging young artist who has made her passion for collecting into an extraordinary art form. “A Curious Collection” is an exquisite exhibition of tiny glass vials containing natural finds, reminiscent of a Victorian cabinet of curiosities. It is shown alongside Chloe’s sculptural works in wood, clay and felt which reflect the natural forms in her collection.
The centrepiece of the Discovery Room is a multi-stemmed silver birch tree. It has been created by Peter Baldry, a professional cardboard artist who works mainly in museums and schools. Blending artistry, imagination and engineering, the model references the many silver birch trees growing at the Granary. Cultivating cultural curiosity in natural history, conservation and the environment are among the charitable objectives of The Association for Cultural Exchange, the registered charity which owns and operates Stapleford Granary and wholly owns ACE Cultural Tours. While our cultural tourists visit destinations all over the world, we also believe that charity begins at home. We take seriously our responsibility to ensure that our environmental footprint is as small as possible and that we are properly conserving the natural world that we occupy.
For further information see our websites at www.acecx.org and www.staplefordgranary.org.uk
