The National Fruit Collection is one of the largest fruit collections in the world and includes over 3,500 named Apple, Pear, Plum, Cherry, Bush fruit, Vine and Cob Nut cultivars. Located at Brogdale Farm, near Faversham (Kent), the collection is owned by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and is part of an international programme to protect plant genetic resources for the future.
The University of Reading has taken over responsibility for the curation and maintenance of the National Fruit Collection in collaboration with the Farm Advisory Services Team (FAST), who are based at Brogdale Farm. Public access is organised by Brogdale Collections, who are developing the site as a visitor attraction.
The National Fruit Collections Trust’s aims are to increase the utilisation of the Collections and to disseminate information derived from this work to growers, horticulturalists, gardeners and the public.