History of the Tearoom

In the 18th century tea was an expensive (and heavily taxed) luxury for the rich, also available in Coffee houses. After doubts and arguments about possible health risks and the suitability of the beverage for "persons of an inferior rank", the increasing reaction to working class drunkenness in the temperance movement led to tea being promoted as an alternative, and from the 1830s many new cafes and coffee houses opened up as a temperance alternative to pubs and inns.

From the 1880s fine hotels in both the United States and England began to offer tea service in tea rooms and tea courts, and by 1910 they had begun to host afternoon tea dances as dance crazes swept both the U.S. and the UK. Tea rooms were established catering for all classes of British society, most notably the chain set up by J. Lyons and Co. who opened their first teashop in 1894 at 213 Piccadilly, London, and set up a series of tea rooms known as Lyons Corner Houses. Tea rooms of all kinds were widespread in Britain by the 1950s.

In the following decades cafés became more fashionable, and tea rooms became less common.

Situated within Highdown Gardens, a beautiful garden overlooking the sea from the south downs. The tearoom is on the boundary of Worthing and the archaeological site Highdown Hill. The gardens offer a unique collection of rare plants and trees, collectively deemed a National collection.

Here at Highdown Tearooms we welcome everybody from morning til late always putting our customer first and creating a warm and relaxed environment.

Highdown Tearooms Littlehampton Road, Goring, Worthing, West Sussex, BN12 6PF t: 01903 246984 e:info@highdowntearooms.co.uk