Overview
- Nottingham Trent University confirmed on Friday that it sold the portion of the Church Street garden containing the original Bramley apple tree to the owners of the neighbouring Bramley Tree Cottage, transferring custodianship to Joshua and Alicia Wheatley.
- NTU says the sale documents impose specific obligations for the tree’s maintenance, preservation and care and that the university will advise the new private custodians on how to look after the tree.
- Campaigners who sought to buy the cottage to create a public heritage centre raised about £14,000 of a £250,000 target and said they were ‘gobsmacked’ that the garden was sold privately.
- The university-owned cottage that previously contained the garden remains listed for sale, so the new custodians own only the plot with the tree rather than the whole property.
- The move matters nationally because the original Bramley tree is more than 200 years old, spawned a major British cooking variety grown by hundreds of growers, and has received national honours, making its long-term care and public access a local and cultural concern.