Apple Crusher

Until the 19th century, cider making was common throughout the Channel Islands. Apples were crushed by the heavy stone wheel pulled around the trough by an ox or horse. The pulp was removed and crushed to extract the juice. Half a ton of apples could be crushed in a day to produce around 100 gallons of cider. Formerly, many farms had their own pressoir and hundreds of apple trees were grown on Sark. Now only a few old specimens remain.

This pressoir stands in the Seigneurie Gardens on Sark, home of the new Seigneur of Sark, Christopher Beaumont. It is made of Guernsey granite.