Brogdale Collections

Kent has long earned its title as the Garden of England, and it’s no accident. The county’s warm climate and relatively low rainfall have made it a natural home for orchards for centuries. But tucked near the market town of Faversham sits something far more extraordinary than your average fruit farm: Brogdale Collections. This charity is set within over 150 acres of beautiful Kent farmland, home to the National Fruit Collection, one of the largest collections of fruit trees in the world, holding over 3,000 varieties of apples, pears, quinces, plums, cherries, grapes and nuts.

The collection has been curated at Brogdale Farm since 1952 and is owned by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). The University of Reading is responsible for its curation and maintenance, working in collaboration with the Fruit Advisory Services Team based on site. Think of it as a gene bank with blossoms. The orchards serve as a living history of remarkable fruit — conserving biodiversity while providing a unique source of plant material for propagation, research and breeding. Varieties that would otherwise have vanished entirely from Britain’s landscape are preserved here, tended season after season.

The charity is as much about public engagement as it is preservation. Guided orchard tours run from April to October with knowledgeable guides who bring the history and science of fruit to life — and let you taste as you go. An annual Orchard Pass allows visitors to wander at their own pace all year round, following the full cycle from first blossom through to harvest. For schools, an educational weather station, World Music Garden, and Garden for Wildlife offer interactive learning about climate, wildlife, and the role insects play in fruit production.

Then there’s the seasonal highlight that draws families back year after year: pick-your-own. Running on weekends from June to 1st November, 10 am to 4 pm, visitors can fill their punnets with fruit that simply isn’t available anywhere else. The season unfolds in waves — cherries first, then plums and gages, before the great apple and pear harvest takes over from September onwards. Brogdale also supplies wholesale quantities of its heritage varieties to local producers, who use the fruit in their own jams, chutneys and artisan produce — a quiet but meaningful thread connecting the national collection to the wider food economy of Kent.

It’s a place where conservation, education and simple pleasure sit side by side comfortably. Whether you’re a local producer scouting heritage varieties, a teacher planning a field trip, or just someone who wants to spend a September afternoon among apple trees — Brogdale Collections offers something most places can’t: living history you can eat.