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How many orchards has Luton had in the past? How many are there today? This page sums up the key data to answer this question about orchards in Luton.

Graph showing the development of orchards in Luton from 1842 to 2024. Can we increase today's number in the future?

Total orchard count

1842: 32 ( Tithe map and register)
1878: 93 (OS Map, Epoch 1)
1900: 44 (OS Map, Epoch 2)
1922: 70 (OS Map, Epoch 3)
2024: 19 (existing data and citizen science)

Numbers for 1942 to 1922 are based on searching historical maps.

The data for 2024 is what we counted based on information from Luton residents and what was already known at the Council and the Bedfordshire and Luton Biodiversity Recording and Monitoring Centre.

More about how we used maps in our research

Slideshow: orchards through the decades

People per orchard

We've done some number-crunching and set the total number of orchards in each map into relation with the Census population figures of Luton.

The ‘People per orchard’ data is intriguing:

In 1842 and 1878 there are around 182 and 258 people per orchard respectively. You could just about imagine that this is enough to supply this amount of people, not just with fresh fruit but also preserves and maybe even cider - although cider was less common in our area.
From 19oo onwards self-sufficiency in orchard fruit become less and less likely.
In 2024 the ratio is almost 12k people per orchard.

It is important to add that the average size of orchards across the maps stayed relatively stable at between 0.2 and 0.3 acres (800 to 1200 m), with the later orchards being smaller in size.

Table showing the development of orchards in Luton over time in relation the population. It shows that self-sufficiency in fruit would not be viable now but would have been likely in 1842 to at least 1900.

Do any of the old orchards still exist?

Geese 'Hissing Sid' and his companion guarding Manor Farm orchards which exists on and near this site since 1842.

So far, we could only find 3 of the historically mapped orchards where fruit trees still exist today.

Some of our existing orchards are clearly old but simply did not make it onto the OS maps as an orchard, for example Bide-a-While which exists since around 1938 or Putteridge Bury orchard, which was simply part of a larger garden.

The orchards that were mapped and were fruit trees still exist today are: