Fruit cultivation in the Royal Gardens of Hampton Court Palace, 1530-1842

While Hampton Court Palace was occupied by the royal family, fruit cultivation formed an integral part of horticulture. This paper reveals that it was not only integral to the gardens but also had an important symbolic function. The collection of fruit at Hampton Court was a leading reference collection, new trends were set here, new varieties were cultivated and new techniques of cultivation were developed. While it was generally recognized as such, it was compromised during a reorganisation of the functions of the gardens of the various royal palaces around London in 1842. Until then, fruit culture at Hampton Court was justly celebrated, and this case study investigates for the first time how over a three-hundred-year period societal change affected and shaped new fashions of consumption and cultivation. As such this paper alters our thinking about the role fruit had within society and how it was an indicator of social and political change.