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Recording Conserving Creating
Orchards East is an exciting environmental and cultural project covering six counties in the east of England – Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk.
Orchards East has evolved into the Orchards East Forum; a collaborative centre drawing together members of the original Orchards East group, along with representatives from existing county orchard groups, other interested organisations and orchard owners and experts.
Funded by the Heritage Lottery fund from 2018 - 2021, and based in the School of History at the University of East Anglia (UEA), Orchards East is devoted to discovering and understanding the past, present and future of orchards in Eastern England.
The project extends initiatives already developed by Suffolk Traditional Orchards Group (STOG) and other partners, including the East of England Apples and Orchards Project (EEAOP).
Our aims
- Survey, research and record the history of orchards across the region
- Identify surviving sites and record new orchards
- Survey the wildlife of orchards, particularly veteran orchards
- Promote the cultural history of orchards and traditional uses of their fruit
- Support orchard restoration through advice and training
- Support and guide the creation of new orchards in community spaces
- Raise the profile of orchards as important green spaces for biodiversity
- Celebrate, appreciate and enjoy orchards past, present and future.
