Our cottage for the weekend was just outside Bath in a beautiful little village called Holt. Mere hours after arriving we strolled to the local newsagents for lunchtime nibbles and instead found a hidden gem! Nestled away behind a hedgerow right in the centre of the village are the most stunning National Trust gardens, complete with an adorable little tea room.
The tea room is hidden around the back of the manor house. It’s got high ceilings and dark wooden furniture and is decorated with loads of cute and colourful ornaments.
I fell in love with these salt & pepper shakers!
The menu is a choice of classic sweets and simple savouries, along with a specials board with more hearty meals. There’s also a big cabinet in the corner filled with all kinds of fresh buns, pastries and cheesecakes to tempt you! We went for a basic bite to eat, not wanting to spoil our appetites for later.
Okay, so this is just a boggo standard cheese sandwich, but I really liked how much attention went into something so plain! The mild cheddar, garden salad and little pile of salted crisps felt strangely joyful- I guess it reminded me of lunches your grandma would make you as a child! Even better this cost a tiny £3.10, which I was mega impressed by.
The tea room has an expansive range of scones which the waitress reeled off with a big grin on her face. The winners were fresh blueberry and cherry scones which despite being full of fruit were very light in texture. Served with a more than generous serving of cream and jam!
This quaint English tea room nestled in a beautiful English country garden made for a really lovely afternoon. What felt like quite a luxury experience was actually very cheap: lunch for four came to £18.00 and entry to the gardens is £7.00, or free with National Trust membership.
