Middle Holly Tea Room

Home baked bread | Delicious salad | Beautiful gardens | Family run | Mouthwatering cakes

The ritual of afternoon tea as a formal occasion was introduced by Anna, the 7th Duchess of Bedford, a young women in the early 1800’s. With evening meal in her household being served well into the evening, she became weakened and irritated by hunger pangs each day, so began inviting her friends to take tea and snack each afternoon.

Nowadays, cafes, tea rooms and hotels throughout the country offer their take on the centuries-old tradition of ‘Afternoon Tea’. Many have become indistinguishable, but quite a few offer something unique.

Middle Holly Cottage is one of those places, a family business that values real homemade cooking and baking using local and high quality produce.

Gill and her husband Andy are owners of the beautifully refurbished former coaching inn at Middle Holly.

They pride themselves on serving high quality homemade food. Their bread, cakes, chocolates and desserts are all handmade in their own kitchen using real butter, organic flour and eggs from the bottom of the garden!

The menu offers a delicious choice of cream teas, afternoon teas, scones, cakes and sandwiches, which are all served with coleslaw, salads, Fiddlers crisps and homemade pickle.

We chose to share a Dewlay’s crumbly Lancashire cheese sandwich with red onion chutney, a scone with clotted cream and homemade jam (of which the jam choice was extensive!) and a slice of chocolate and stout cake. The bread, was to die for, the smell and taste divine and the salads to accompany were freshly prepared and full of flavour, including seeds, radish, carrot, peashoots, cous cous, pomegranate, beetroot and more.

Located 5 miles from Lancaster, Middle Holly Cottage is set in three quarters of an acre of beautiful lawns and gardens, with a large safe car park to the rear. Open Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays 11am-4.30pm and Sunday 2-5pm during June/July/August.