Name Index

To

Devonshire Cyder

Trans. Devon Assoc., (1883) vol. XV, pp. 237-245.

by

Rev. Treasurer Hawker. M.A.

Prepared by Michael Steer

Early records of cider production in Devon are difficult to interpret, as what might have been cider is often described as wine or strong wine. Records from 1285 for Exminster Manor suggest that cider-making was conducted on a commercial scale. Cider was recorded as part of Church Tythes in Combe in Tynhyde in 1297. By the middle of the 14th Century cider-making on a commercial scale was well established in Devon, with records of cider being offered for sale in Sampford Peveral in 1358,  and in Plymouth at a similar date. The arrival of the ‘Black Death’ at Weymouth that year led to the collapse of the agrarian economy in Devon and the rest of England. About 100 years later it’s likely that the details of pressing and purchasing cider recorded in the Kerkenswell Manor accounts of 1452 preceded the general renewed interest in orcharding and cultivation that occurred following the agrarian reforms of the Tudors. Cider production seems to have increased during the early part of the seventeenth century, as attested by Westcote in his View of Devonshire, (1630), and by Risdon in his Chorographical Description of Devon. The article, from a copy of a rare and much sought-after journal can be downloaded from the Internet Archive. Google has sponsored the digitisation of books from several libraries. These books, on which copyright has expired, are available for free educational and research use, both as individual books and as full collections to aid researchers.