The comprehensive resource for apples and orchards

Golden Noble apple

A sweet-flavoured cooking apple, and a good tree for the garden.

Golden Noble is a well-known English cooking apple, originating in the early 19th century.  It was discovered by the gardener of Sir Thomas Harr of Stowe Hall in Norfolk, who obtained a cutting from a tree in a nearby orchard.  Sir Thomas presented it to the Horticultural Society of London in 1820.  It soon established itself as a popular culinary apple.

Golden Noble remains a popular garden apple in the UK to this day.  It has several excellent qualities and deserves consideration if you are looking for a more interesting alternative to Bramley's Seedling.  It produces attractive blossom, and the tree generally grows in neat and tidy fashion (unlike Bramley) making it a good choice as a feature tree for the garden.  It also bears fruit early in its life.  In the kitchen it cooks down to a puree with, for a cooker, a relatively sweet flavour which holds up well in cooking.

Golden Noble therefore has all the attributes of a good cooking apple - at least in English eyes.  It has not had much success outside the UK, probably because in Europe and North America there is a preference for apples which keep their shape - what the English regard as a puree the Americans see as a mush.

Last updated 16 Jan 2011.

Summary

  • Species: Malus domestica
  • Parentage: Unknown
  • Origin: Norfolk, England, United Kingdom
  • Introduced: 1820
  • Orange Pippin Cultivar ID: 102500

Identification

  • Fruit colour: Green
  • Fruit size: Large
  • Bultitude apple group: 5. Yellow, smooth, sweet or acidic

Using

  • Good for cooking
  • Good for juice
  • Cooking result: Puree
  • Flavour quality: Good
  • Flavour style: Sweeter
  • Ripening period: Mid-Late season
  • Use / keeping: 1-2 months

Growing

  • Cropping: Heavy
  • Flowering period: Late season
  • Flowering group: 5
  • Fertility: Self-sterile
  • Triploid: No
  • Vigour: Slightly small
  • Precocity: Precocious
  • Gardening skill: Very easy
  • Fruit bearing: Partial tip-bearer
  • Attractive blossom
  • General disease resistance: Average

Climate

  • Suitable for temperate climates

Other qualities

  • RHS Award of Garden Merit 1993

Relationships to other varieties

Offspring of this variety:

Golden Noble identification photos from official fruit collections


ARS GRIN

©Copyright
ARS GRIN

UK National Fruit Collection

©Crown Copyright more >
UK National Fruit Collection

Golden Noble identification photos from website visitors


Golden Noble apples - note the tip-bearing tendency tape


Golden Noble apples - note the tip-bearing tendency

Copyright: C. Alderman

Golden Noble apples tape


Golden Noble apples

Copyright: C. Alderman

Golden Noble tree showing the neat growth habit tape


Golden Noble tree showing the neat growth habit

Copyright: C. Alderman

Golden Noble blossom tape


Golden Noble blossom

Copyright: C. Alderman


Rate this variety for flavor

Current rating: 4.5 out of 5. Total votes cast: 2
 

Visitor comments

(Use the form at the bottom to add your own comments about this variety)

26 Nov 2011 David M. TaylorWI, United States
This is a great base apple for cider -- lots of juice, good balance of tartness and sweetness (not so much astringency though), and not too expensive. You get a lot of bang for your resources out of this apple.

17 Jan 2011 Carole AldermanCAMBS, United Kingdom
Totally agree with comments. I also find the apples are excellent for eating, just before they fully ripen. Nice thin skins. I make purees and chutney with them. The late blossoming is an advantage in avoiding frost. My tree is in a dry and windy situation but does really well in spite of this. I prune it to keep it in proportion with the size of my garden. V. attractive to butterflies and bees all season. Above table v. useful.

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Fruit tree register

Do you have a tree of this variety in your garden or orchard? If so please register the details here and contribute to our international register of fruit trees.

The following Golden Noble trees have been registered - click the name to view more details of each tree.

You can also view these trees on a map.

United States

United Kingdom



Latest Spring blossom records for this variety

2011 season

  • 19th April  2011  - tree owned by Hugh in Stratford-upon-Avon, United Kingdom

2009 season

  • May  2009  - tree owned by Carole in PETERBOROUGH, United Kingdom
  • April  2009  - tree owned by Hugh in Stratford-upon-Avon, United Kingdom

Record your blossom dates in our Fruit Tree Register - more >>.

Latest harvest records for this variety

2011 season

  • 4th week September  2011  - tree owned by Hugh in Stratford-upon-Avon, United Kingdom
  • 2nd week September  2011  - tree owned by Carole in PETERBOROUGH, United Kingdom

2009 season

  • October  2009  - tree owned by Carole in PETERBOROUGH, United Kingdom
  • 2nd week September  2009  - tree owned by Hugh in Stratford-upon-Avon, United Kingdom

Mature heights for Golden Noble trees

This table shows the likely mature height for a Golden Noble tree taking into account the vigor of the variety, the rootstock, and soil conditions.

Rootstock Soil quality
Poor Below average Average Above average Very good
P22 2.1 ft
0.6 m
2.6 ft
0.8 m
3.2 ft
1.0 m
3.9 ft
1.2 m
4.7 ft
1.5 m
M27 2.4 ft
0.7 m
3.0 ft
0.9 m
3.6 ft
1.1 m
4.5 ft
1.4 m
5.4 ft
1.7 m
M9 3.6 ft
1.1 m
4.5 ft
1.4 m
5.4 ft
1.7 m
6.8 ft
2.1 m
8.1 ft
2.5 m
Bud.9 3.6 ft
1.1 m
4.5 ft
1.4 m
5.4 ft
1.7 m
6.8 ft
2.1 m
8.1 ft
2.5 m
Geneva 11 3.6 ft
1.1 m
4.5 ft
1.4 m
5.4 ft
1.7 m
6.8 ft
2.1 m
8.1 ft
2.5 m
Geneva 16 4.2 ft
1.3 m
5.3 ft
1.6 m
6.3 ft
1.9 m
7.9 ft
2.4 m
9.5 ft
2.9 m
M26 4.5 ft
1.4 m
5.6 ft
1.7 m
6.8 ft
2.1 m
8.4 ft
2.6 m
10.1 ft
3.1 m
Geneva 30 4.8 ft
1.5 m
6.0 ft
1.8 m
7.2 ft
2.2 m
9.0 ft
2.8 m
10.8 ft
3.3 m
MM102 4.8 ft
1.5 m
6.0 ft
1.8 m
7.2 ft
2.2 m
9.0 ft
2.8 m
10.8 ft
3.3 m
M7 5.4 ft
1.7 m
6.8 ft
2.1 m
8.1 ft
2.5 m
10.1 ft
3.1 m
12.2 ft
3.7 m
M116 5.4 ft
1.7 m
6.8 ft
2.1 m
8.1 ft
2.5 m
10.1 ft
3.1 m
12.2 ft
3.7 m
MM106 6.0 ft
1.8 m
7.5 ft
2.3 m
9.0 ft
2.8 m
11.3 ft
3.5 m
13.5 ft
4.1 m
MM111 6.9 ft
2.1 m
8.6 ft
2.6 m
10.4 ft
3.2 m
12.9 ft
4.0 m
15.5 ft
4.8 m
Bud.118 7.8 ft
2.4 m
9.8 ft
3.0 m
11.7 ft
3.6 m
14.6 ft
4.5 m
17.6 ft
5.4 m
M25 8.7 ft
2.7 m
10.9 ft
3.3 m
13.1 ft
4.0 m
16.3 ft
5.0 m
19.6 ft
6.0 m

From an idea by N. Buck - more details.

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