Keswick Codlin apple trees
- Picking season: Early
- Self-fertility: Partially self-fertile
- Flowering group: 2
Keswick Codlin is a traditional English culinary apple, especially popular in Victorian times as one of the first cooking apples of the season. It is juicy and acidic and cooks down to a smooth puree.
Victorian pomologist Robert Hogg praised it as "One of the earliest and most valuable of our culinary apples".
It remains an excellent choice for the modern garden. The tree is almost foolproof to grow, producing heavy crops in almost any situation, and the apples have an excellent sharp flavour and become ripe early in the season when there is not much else around.
Keswick Codlin apple trees for sale
Pot-grown
All our pot-grown trees are grown for us to our specification by the Frank P Matthews nursery.
All pot-grown trees are suitable for planting out in the garden, some are suitable for growing in containers.
PG12-year bush-trained 12L pot-grown tree M26 rootstock£56.50
Grown for us by Frank P Matthews nursery
Medium tree
(2m-3m after 10 years)
PG22-year bush-trained 12L pot-grown tree MM106 rootstock£56.50
Grown for us by Frank P Matthews nursery
Large tree
(3m-5m after 10 years)
Bare-root
BR11-year bare-root treeMM106 rootstock£34.95
Large tree
(3m-5m after 10 years)
Out of stock
Please try next season
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Call us on 01759 392007 or fill in our contact form.
Tree specification
Photos of trees as supplied |
Tree sizes and forms
Pre-ordering
Pre-order now for delivery in September 2025
Delivery charges
Delivery for a single tree starts at £9.95, it is calculated based on your postcode.
Growing and Training
As the name suggests, Keswick Codlin is well adapted to the wetter climate of western England - although it will grow well in drier climates too.
Keswick Codlin is a very reliable tree, producing heavy crops even in a poor summer. Like many heavy-cropping older varieties, it can sometimes lapse into biennial bearing - but this is easily avoided by thinning the fruitlets just after the blossom has finished, to prevent over-cropping.
Recommended pollinators for Keswick Codlin apple trees
Keswick Codlin is partially self-fertile, so you do not need another variety to pollinate it to produce fruit.
However you will get a better crop if you plant any of the following pollinator varieties nearby.
If you are not sure about pollination requirements don't hesitate to ask us.
More pollinators >
Red WindsorRed Windsor is one of the easiest to grow of all dessert apple trees, and with a pleasant apple flavour.
Egremont RussetEgremont Russet is the most popular English russet variety, and a good apple tree for the garden.
Red SentinelMalus Red Sentinel has classic white blossom and a profusion of tiny scarlet persistent fruits.
GreensleevesGreensleeves is a reliable and popular mid-season green/yellow apple, easy to grow and productive.
BardseyA hardy disease-resistant apple, discovered growing on an island off the west coast of Wales.
BountifulBountiful is an easy-to-grow cooking apple, it retains its shape when cooked, fairly sweet for a cooker.
Stirling CastleA traditional Scottish cooker from the Victorian era, with a good sharp flavour.
Devonshire QuarrendenA very old English summer apple, with a vinous strawberry flavour, grown throughout the UK.
History
The first Keswick Codlin tree was found at the end of the 18th century, growing in a rubbish heap at Gleaston Castle near Ulverston at the southern tip of the English Lake District. It was subsequently popularised by a Keswick nurseryman.
Keswick Codlin characteristics
- Gardening skillBeginner
- Self-fertilityPartially self-fertile
- Flowering group2
- Pollinating othersAverage
- Fruit bearingSpur-bearer
- Climate suitabilityTemperate climatesMild damp climates
- Picking seasonEarly
- CroppingHeavy
- Keeping (of fruit)1 week
- Food usesCulinaryJuiceTraditional cooker
- Country of originUnited Kingdom
- Period of origin1800 - 1849
- Blossom colourWhite
British-grown trees 
Unlike many garden centres and online retailers, the vast majority of our fruit trees are grown in the UK.
Find out more.
In addition, all our trees are certified under the Plant Healthy scheme, supervised by the Plant Health Alliance.
Other stakeholders include Defra and the RHS. The scheme aims to improve UK biosecurity by setting standards
for all growers and retailers involved in selling plants in the UK.
Find out more
Guaranteed fruit trees
When you buy your fruit tree from Orange Pippin Fruit Trees we guarantee it for the first season in your garden whilst it gets established. If it doesn't grow successfully, we'll either replace it the following season or offer a refund - subject to some conditions.
Find out more.
More about apple trees
There is no doubt that the famous Bramley's Seedling still rightly reigns supreme. Characterised by its copious rich juicy acidity it quickly renders to stiff puree in the kitchen, and is the benchmark for English apple cookery. However we have noticed a real resurgence in interest in the humble cooking apple in recent years, with cooks looking beyond Bramley for other qualities and textures.
Look out for cooking apples which ripen earlier than Bramley, such as Grenadier or Keswick Codlin.
Scotland also has a strong tradition of cooking apples - Galloway Pippin, Scotch Bridget, Scotch Dumpling for example. This also illustrates another useful quality of cooking apples - they can be productive even in climates where grey skies and rain are more frequent than sun and blue skies.
Many cooking apples are also great for juicing, especially if you like your apple juice to have a bit of an acidic kick.
