The vine began as a small cutting that arrived from a mother-vine at Valentines Mansion in Ilford, Essex.
By 1887, it was already 1.2 meters around the base.
Vine Keeper Gill Strudwick attends to the Great Vine.
Centurion vines are relatively few because devastations of phylloxera and fungal diseases in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
The Great Vine was exceptionally lucky.
In Victorian times, gardeners believed that a single large vine would produce a more abundant crop.
So they built a glasshouse surrounding the vine that kept the vine heated during the chilly British winters.
As the vine grew, the glasshouse was enlarged several times.
One constructed in the early 1900s had a public viewing area.
Photo: Historic Royal Palaces
Theres no record of these grapes bring used for wine.
Instead, Queen Victoria had the grapes sent to the Royal Household at Windsor Castle.
Edward VII then decided they should be made available to the public.
Today, the Great Vine is four meters around the base and the longest spur is 36.5 meters.
The average crop of black grapes is 272 Kg.
In 2001, the Great Vine yielded its biggest crop of 363 Kg.
Vinekeeper Mary Parker at work in the Vine House in 1970.
Photo: Historic Royal Palaces
Workers preparing grapes for sale.
Photo: Historic Royal Palaces
Photo:Tel O’Brie/Flickr
