Bramley apples are a staple in supermarkets across the UK and it all started in a house in Nottinghamshire. But now the future of the original fruit-bearing tree is in question after the garden where it stands has been sold by Nottingham Trent University (NTU).

The news has left campaigners aiming to turn it into a heritage site “gobsmacked”.

The tree, which is more than 200 years old, was the very first Bramley from which millions of saplings have been grown worldwide. It was sown by Mary Ann Brailsford in the garden of her parents’ home in Church Street, Southwell, Nottinghamshire, between 1809 and 1815.

Artist Dan Llywelyn Hall, who unveiled paintings of the tree in 2024, co-founded a campaign to buy the cottage from Nottingham Trent University (NTU) and keep public access to the tree by making it a heritage site for tourists and an educational facility.

On Friday, Llywelyn Hall was informed by the university that the garden in which the “Mother Bramley” resides had been bought privately by the owners of a neighbouring cottage.

The campaigners had raised £14,000 from more than 320 donations around the world.

Llywelyn Hall said: “It is a very sad day for our ancient heritage trees. It has been failed by all the institutions and now Nottingham Trent University, ironically a uni of environment and agriculture, have done this. We are all gobsmacked.”

In an email to the Guardian, he added that the “careless sale that will reduce the tree to a quaint back garden curiosity” and said: “NTU has acted irresponsibly and washed their hands of a tree that ultimately outlived their death sentence over 10 years ago.

“I had hoped we would see a dignified last chapter for the Mother Bramley. We all failed it,” he said.

The university said it was supporting the new custodians of the ancient tree with advice on how to care for it.

An NTU spokesperson said: “We are delighted that custodianship of the tree has passed to the owners of the neighbouring property, Bramley Tree Cottage.

“Joshua and Alicia Wheatley approached NTU to express their interest in purchasing the garden containing the tree and their commitment to continuing to care for and celebrate the tree and its heritage.

“The university is now supporting the new custodians with advice on how to care for the Bramley, which has outlived its natural lifespan by quite some time.

“NTU has also undertaken steps for the transfer of the garden to contain specific obligations to ensure the continued maintenance, preservation and care of the Bramley, as well as continued public access for events.

“The university-owned cottage, previously used for student accommodation, remains listed for sale.”

Almost 50 years after Brailsford planted the tree in the cottage’s garden, a 17-year-old boy named Henry Merryweather came across a gardener carrying some of the apples and asked where they had been grown.

By this time, the garden containing the apple tree belonged to a butcher called Matthew Bramley, who gave the teenager permission to take cuttings of the “Bramley Seedling”, before the fruits became a cooking staple.

The Bramley apple has become one of Britain’s most popular cooking apples, with more than 300 Bramley growers in England and about 83,000 tonnes grown annually in the UK.