This week, I treated myself (and my lovely boyfriend) to Afternoon Tea at the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum — and I’m so glad I did. As part of the upcoming Romance Writing Festival on October 18th, there’ll be a special “Afternoon Tea with an Editor” event hosted right here, so I wanted to check it out for myself, take some photos, and give you a taste of what you’ll be enjoying.
Let’s start with the arrival: the Russell-Cotes Museum is tucked just beside the Royal Bath Hotel, our festival venue. You can actually walk out through the hotel’s gardens and turn left — and there it is. The entrance is halfway down a slope with sweeping views over Bournemouth Beach and Pier.
The moment you step through the gates, it feels like you’ve discovered a secret. You walk into a beautifully maintained garden, and then there’s the house — grand, turreted, and utterly enchanting. Built in the late 1800s by Sir Merton and Lady Annie Russell-Cotes, the villa is filled with treasures they collected during their travels: paintings, sculptures, curiosities, and endless stories.
We explored the museum first, wandering through vibrant rooms filled with art and history. There’s a lift to most floors, and the team there were fantastically helpful — clearly passionate about the place and its heritage. Each room felt like its own little world, inviting you to pause and imagine the people and lives behind the collection.
After exploring, we made our way back down to the café for Afternoon Tea on the terrace. It’s hard to imagine a lovelier setting — the terrace overlooks the gardens and out to sea, peaceful and full of charm.
And the tea itself? Honestly, one of the best I’ve ever had.
Freshly brewed pots, dainty finger sandwiches, warm scones, and an absolutely perfect Victoria sponge. That sponge brought me straight back to childhood — to birthday teas with my grandmother, who baked hers with the same lightness and sweetness. It’s that magical thing a flavour can do: unlock a memory in an instant. Proust famously wrote about how the taste of a madeleine dipped in tea brought back a flood of memories — and as literary moments go, this one was unexpectedly powerful.
Of course, no Afternoon Tea is complete without the great scone debate. I’m firmly in the jam first, then cream camp — apparently that’s the Cornish way — while my boyfriend insists on the Devon method (cream first, then jam). We’re unlikely to reach a compromise anytime soon… so I’ll leave it to you:
Which side are you on? Cream or jam first? And more importantly… who’s right?
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