TasWeekend Indulge: High tea steeped in history

Cucumber sandwiches and bite-sized butterfly cakes topped with fresh cream … high tea is an experience rooted in an era long past. So where better to enjoy such repast than in a grand old home that recently celebrated its double century?

Glen Derwent Heritage Retreat offers bed-and-breakfast accommodation upstairs and tea rooms downstairs. Picture: MATT THOMPSON

Cucumber sandwiches, bite-sized butterfly cakes and a dainty pot of chocolate mousse topped with fresh cream … high tea is an experience rooted in an era long past. It seems entirely appropriate, therefore, to be enjoying such repast in a grand old home that recently celebrated its double century.

Keen to see the Derwent Valley draped in her glorious autumn coat, we visit New Norfolk on a breezy but sunny Sunday. We reach our destination, Glen Derwent Heritage Retreat, just after 12.30pm.

The tea room, in a conservatory attached to the main house, is at first deserted but someone soon appears to direct us to a sunny corner table topped with a white tablecloth.

Two peahens and a sizeable flock of chickens roam freely through the garden and across a croquet lawn outside. I later discover the peacock has flown the coop to a neighbouring property, with hopes he will return when struck by the urge to procreate.

We order tea and coffee as a waitress delivers Willow pattern cups, saucers and side plates. The tea comes in a pot so heavy it’s impossible to lift with one hand, with the food not far behind. We ladies have chosen the high tea, while our gentlemanly companions tuck into a hearty ploughman’s lunch.

The former is served on a three-tiered plate adorned with white paper doilies. The first level is filled with sandwiches — chicken waldorf, egg, and cucumber — as well as mini bacon and cheese quiches, blinis, and slices of cucumber topped with hummus.

The high tea at Glen Derwent. Picture: MATT THOMPSON

The plougman’s lunch. Picture: MATT THOMPSON

The next level contains petite pots of chocolate mousse, lemon cheesecakes capped with a single raspberry and, my personal favourite, crème brulee. The burnt caramel gives a satisfying crack when rapped several times with a spoon, revealing a richly smooth custard beneath.

At the top is a selection of cakes and slices, the standout being a banoffee tart filled with oozing caramel, a round of banana and fresh cream.

The tea room is run by Liz Virtue, who sounds to my romantic soul like a character from a Jane Austen novel. She and husband Rob, a hydrogeologist, bought the historic property Glen Derwent in late 2016 and reopened the B&B business soon after. It had been in hiatus under the previous owner.

Liz was keen to call time on her career as a support staff member for a series of MPs in Queensland and Tasmania. “We were actively looking for a heritage property for a B&B and tea rooms as well,” she says.

Contented chickens roam the grounds near the original buildings, which include a stable that was probably once the original house. Picture: MATT THOMPSON

The tea rooms began operating in June 2017.

“We started out doing only Devonshire teas,” Liz says. “When people arrive we make the scones and serve them straight from the oven to the table.”

For something a little more complex, like a high tea or ploughman’s lunch, you do need to book in advance. On Mother’s Day, Liz will be whipping up a deluxe high tea in her commodious country kitchen for $55 a head.

ON THE MENU High tea $35 per head, minimum of two people; ploughman’s lunch $25 per head, minimum of two people; and Devonshire tea, $15.

“The one thing that’s really surprised us is how the tea room has taken off,” she says.

“We thought it would be a side thing but it’s keeping up with the accommodation.”

We take a tour of the upstairs accommodation after tea, also taking in the original building next door — a former stable dating back to the early 1800s.

Liz says she and Rob have done a lot of work in the past few years, including filling in a 1940s-built pool to allow for more garden space, and shoring up the original slate roof on the main house. A particularly striking addition is a parterre garden at the entrance comprised of 100 rose bushes and 1000 box hedge seedlings. “It was an absolute nightmare when we bought it,” Liz says of the sprawling garden. “One of the first things we did was buy a ride-on mower. We have done a fair bit but it’s certainly a work in progress.”

Glen Derwent Tea Rooms

44 Hamilton Rd, New Norfolk

Open Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday 10am to 4pm

For high tea, lunches and group functions, phone [phone]

www.glenderwent.com