The United Kingdom's National Fruit Collection is one of the largest collections of fruit trees and plants in the world. Over 2,040 varieties of apple, 502 of pear, 350 of plum, 322 of cherry and smaller collections of bush fruits, nuts and grapes are grown, in of orchards. It has been curated and maintained at Brogdale Farm, Brogdale, Kent since 1952 and is owned by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). The University of Reading took over day-to-day maintenance of the collection in 2008. The collection includes two trees or bushes of each variety, in case one is lost. References External links "Orchard Archives: The National Fruit Collection" by Dr Joan Morgan in Studies in the History of British Fruit, part 2 in Occasional Papers from the RHS Lindley Library, volume 7, March 2021 Botanical gardens in England University of Reading Government of the United Kingdom Gardens in Kent Orchards 1952 establishments in England