Longleat House Gallery Café reopens for Easter holidays
The latest menu there will hark back to when it first opened in 1949
Longleat House is reopening its historic cellars today (Saturday 5th April) as a café.
It's part of the estate's Easter events - with the Cellar Café menu featuring similar dishes to those served to public when it first opened in 1949.
The underground space is in the part of the stately home's basement, originally used as the beer cellar.
Pre-bookable Afternoon Teas, with sweet and savoury delicacies personally selected by Emma Thynn, the 8th Marchioness of Bath, will be part of the offering there.
The revamped café reflects the oak-based décor in Emma’s Kitchen which features produce and recipes celebrating hundreds of years of baking at Longleat.
Emma Challinor, the estate’s archivist, said: “In the Beer cellars in 1837 there were over 100 casks of beer, all of different sizes containing 124 hogsheads of strong beer, and 63 hogsheads of table beer. One hogshead contained 432 pints.
“Table beer had a low alcohol content and was considered a good source of nutrients and hydration for workers. Up until the First World War beer was supplied as a staple of the servants’ diets.
“When the House opened to the public in 1949 the 6th Marquess of Bath arranged for the old chapel at the west side of Longleat house to be fitted out as a temporary restaurant offering simple refreshments: ‘ a Help-Yourself service, providing cups of tea, bread and butter, sandwiches, cakes, minerals, ices etc.’
Emma added: “In 1952 however more permanent tea rooms were created by converting part of the Longleat cellar area in the south basement into a restaurant and small tearoom, with storeroom and fitted kitchen.”
Scott Ashman, Head of Operations, said: “A surviving menu from the early days of the Cellar Café shows a luncheon of ham salad, jelly and ice cream, cheese and biscuits and a cup of tea. Sandwiches and cake were also available.
“Interestingly the menu underlines the word ‘butter’ provided with your bread in the set tea or high tea choices – a reminder that this was a luxury that was still rationed until 1954."