In the early nineteenth century Anna, the 7th Duchess of Bedford is said to have complained of "having that sinking feeling" during the late afternoon. At the time it was usual for people to take only two main meals a day, breakfast, and dinner at around 8 o'clock in the evening. The solution for the Duchess was a pot a tea and a light snack, taken privately in her boudoir during the afternoon.

Later, friends were invited to join her in her rooms at Woburn Abbey and this summer practice proved so popular that the Duchess continued it when she returned to London, sending cards to her friends asking them to join her for "tea and a walking the fields." Other social hostesses quickly picked up on the idea and the practice became respectable enough to move it into the drawing room.

Before long all of fashionable society was sipping tea and nibbling sandwiches in the middle of the afternoon.

At Lords of the Manor, we have not only continued in the tradition of the Duchess, but have mastered the process, still offering delicious homemade scones with Cotswold clotted cream, homemade strawberry jam and wonderful sandwiches. We have now included a selection of local dishes such as Bibury trout with fresh asparagus and traditional favourites such as potted shrimps. There is a selection of over 20 types and blends of tea for you to choose from.

“Never trust a man who, when left in a room with a tea cozy, doesn’t try it on” Billy Connolly

“There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea”. Henry James, The Portrait of a Lady