Brogdale Collections

About

Brogdale Collections charity is based at the National Fruit Collection and provides access to and education about the National Fruit Collection. Set in over 150 acres of beautiful Kent farmland, the National Fruit Collection, one of the largest collections of fruit trees in the world, holds over 3000 varieties including apples, pears, quince and plums to cherries, grapes and nuts. The Collections intriguing orchards are a living history and heritage of amazing fruit and have been based at Brogdale Farm for over 70 years.

The purpose of the Collections are to act as a ‘gene bank’ conserving the biodiversity of fruit, while providing a valuable unique source of plant material for propagation, research, and breeding. They offer a fascinating living reference library of ‘heritage’ fruit varieties from all over the world.

There is always something for the whole family to enjoy at Brogdale. The season starts with the Blossom Tours in April, a visual highlight of the year. The blossom tours will take you on a journey around the collections, discovering the seasonal showcases and peak blossom areas of the orchards. Ideal for the curious to learn about the National Fruit Collection or for aspiring photographers to grab those perfect shots of the blossom.
July’s Cherry Trails include sampling some of our 400 varieties of cherries while Plum Weekend includes tractor rides of the orchards when there is so much fruit to see. Our annual Cider Festival in August offers over 40 local ciders to sample, including those made with fruit from the National Fruit Collection. The apple harvest from August to October hosts the most impressive display of fruit you will ever find. With over 2000 varieties of apple to see, taste and buy. Special PYO weekends enable visitors to taste and pick hundreds of fruit varieties to take home.

Families can enjoy a variety of fun filled days out on the farm including a giant Easter Egg hunt in the blossom filled orchards, campfire cooking with orchard fruits or apple pressing – making some of the most delicious apple juice you will ever taste!

We encourage visitors to join us at all times of the year to see the changing seasons of the orchards, welcoming many thousands of people to the farm in the process. 

Guided tours run from April – October three times a day.
Join a daily Orchard tour when our knowledgeable guides will take you on a journey of discovery from spring blossom to fruit filled harvests. Your Orchard Tour guides will answer your questions and awaken your your taste buds with samples of the fruit (in season) plus help you learn all about the National Fruit Collection and it’s history and heritage with over 3,000 varieties.

Self-guided walks are available any time of the day or year, you can spend as much time as you like wandering the pathways, enjoying the countryside and discovering the fruits cycle from spring blossom to fruit season.

With an annual Brogdale Orchard pass you can wander the Brogdale pathways and orchards at your own pace all year round on a self guided walk or join as many guided walks throughout the season year, enabling you to visit Brogdale from first blossom and bountiful fruit harvest time, the whole beautiful cycle. Seasonal tractor tours of the orchards are available from June to October and are popular with tour groups and schools. 

Our educational Weather Station, World Music Garden and Garden for Wildlife provide fun, interactive education aimed at understanding weather, climate, wildlife and nature. These are available for day visitors, schools and children’s groups from Key stage 1 & 2. They run all year long to provide children with access to the orchards and a day of learning and discovery.

Alongside this Brogdale Collections offer a range of rural adult courses including fruit tree grafting, pruning, wild food forging, cider making, willow weaving and orchard design.

Brogdale Farm also has a café, fruit tree nursery and farm shop where produce from the National Collection can be sampled and purchased. Please be aware that businesses within the Brogdale Marketplace operate separately and therefore have different opening times.