There’s good reason to whip up a cream tea today as it’s National Cream Tea Day in the UK.

National Cream Tea Day, which is now in its seventh year, is organised by Rodda’s Cornish Clotted Cream and Wilkin and Sons Tiptree. 

Rodda’s and Tiptree are once again hosting the celebration online this year, helping everyone to come together virtually with friends and family through the power of social media to enjoy a much needed cream tea.

The jam and cream experts together donate up to 50,000 portions of jam and cream every year, through their joint organisation, The Cream Tea Society, which supports fundraisers and charities to put on their own cream tea events. To date, this has helped to raise over £680,000 for hundreds of charities across the UK.

Rodda’s and Tiptree are encouraging people to share their cream tea creations – anything from sharing a scone or two in the garden with your family, to organising your own facetime bake-a-long with friends, on social media by using:  #nationalcreamteaday 

A much loved British tradition, the cream tea has been enjoyed by the nation since 1662, when Portuguese Catherine de Braganza married Charles II, bringing the custom of drinking tea at court with her and making tea popular worldwide. In 1706, Thomas Twining opened London’s first tearoom.

The cream tea tradition flourished in the Westcountry following the tourism boom in the 1850s, brought on by the opening of the railway. Visitors bustled south looking to relax and indulge, and hotels, tearooms, farmhouses and cafés were happy to oblige – offering delicious afternoon cream teas.

By the middle of the 19th century, afternoon tea was an every day occurrence; a spread of sandwiches, cakes, scones, cream and jam – the first hint of cream teas as we know them today.

Cream Tea Society

Rosa Medea is Life & Soul Magazine’s Chief. She writes about lifestyle including sustainable and green living.