1a The Orchard

The village orchard lies immediately south of the village green. It contains 7 apple trees and a Rowan. Located just outside the walled garden, the orchard was originally developed to provide apples to the Georgian Manor House in the late 18th century.

The trees appear to be the paradise rootstock which gave English orchards their characteristic scale — small, manageable trees suited to cottage gardens and village orchards like the one at Betchworth.

Paradise dwarf rootstocks can be traced back to ancient Persia and the name "Paradise" is thought to derive from the Persian word for garden or enclosed space — pairidaeza — which also gives us the English word paradise.

In January the orchard floor is covered with crocus. The trees blossom in April and the fruit develops through the summer and is harvested in September for the annual village Applefest when apples are crushed for juice.

The wassail tradition the village now celebrates (see below) was intimately bound up with this style of orchard, blessing the very trees that the paradise rootstock made possible. So there's a neat thread connecting an ancient Persian garden tradition all the way to a chilly January evening in Betchworth.

The orchard is the venue for the annual village Wassailing event in January, a traditional luck-bringing custom often associated with apple orchards, dating back at least a few hundred years. The word has its origins in the Old English toast "waes hael", meaning Good Health and it involves a cider toast.