There’s nothing like homemade cakes and scones – and church tearooms in England are usually one of the best places to find them. Here at St. Anne’s Church (c.1714) in Kew, the ladies of the church prepare homemade tea food. The teas can be enjoyed outside amongst the gravestones  on the other side of the churchyard, which also provides a lovely view of Kew Green. This year (2012) teas will be served on Sundays and Bank Holiday Mondays from May 6th to September 30th.

You will notice that these are “crusts on” tea sandwiches. One of the church ladies working on the day I was there told me that ever since the war, she just cannot bring herself to cut crusts off bread, that it just seems too wasteful.

Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788) is buried here at St. Anne’s, but unless The Blue Boy is hiding a teacup beneath that cloke, I cannot seem to find a Gainsborough tea connection.

However ….. the German artist Johan Zoffany is also buried at St. Anne’s, and his works include some rather lovely ones containing tea:

 The Garden of Hampton House with Mr and Mrs David Garrick Taking Tea by Johan Zoffany

John, Fourteenth Lord Willoughby de Broke, and his Family by Johan Zoffany

 James Farrell Phillips by Johan Zoffany