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The Old Thatch Teashop feels like a fairytale with excellent tea service. Its pink rooms and whimsical garden may look imaginary, but this beloved spot is very much real. In fact, it’s believed to be Shanklin, England’s oldest building — and that’s not a tall tale!
Built in 1690 (the year the clarinet was invented and Benjamin Franklin experimented with lighting rods!), the buildings that make up the Teashop were originally fisherman cottages. In addition to the fishermen who lived there, something else “fishy” was happening: underneath the Shop, a tunnel runs 500m (0.3mi) south towards the town of Ventnor and was used by pirates to smuggle their contraband. They probably said, “Nothing to sea here.”
📸: Jack Street
In 1940, after many centuries and many businesses later, the cottages were transformed into the perfectly pink Teashop that stands today. Its proprietors, Pat and Charles, take pride in the shop’s quintessential English offerings and preserving the tea shop’s charm and traditions. Within its rosy exterior, there are three tea rooms adorned in local memorabilia. Tea and homemade English goods are offered beneath the thatched roof which is made of reed — this means if you bring a book, you’ll read under reeds!
Beyond its traditional tea rooms, the shop’s “dairy garden” seating area is perfect for customers and children alike. The dairy garden was once a working dairy yard, where milk and dairy were handled for the surrounding cottages. You won’t find a working dairy yard now, though. The only milk will be that in your latte!
📸: R K Hayden
If you’re sipping a tea or a coffee and you feel someone looking over your shoulder, that may be because of the Teashop’s ghost. Staff and customers recall seeing the apparition of a woman perusing the Shop to make sure each room is in proper order. Maybe ghosts need their caffeine fix, too?
