The Strand Tea rooms are set on the harbour side of the Barbican, close to Plymouth Hoe and the fishing port. The Elizabethan building has appropriately period décor inside, where there are tudor tables and flagstone flooring, beamed ceilings and large windows with views over the fishing boats moored in the harbour. There is a good selection of teas, and the cakes and scones are homemade. Devon cream teas are reasonably priced serving each guest with a pot of tea, two homemade scones, jam and clotted cream produced on a nearby farm. There are also teacakes, crumpets and a choice of lunches.
The proprietor Ann Meeson started the Tea Rooms 15 years ago, being a lover of tea rooms herself, she realised the Barbican had no traditional tea room and decided to fill the gap. She has become renowned for her homemade cakes and Devon cream teas.
Having a love of the past Ann displays a wide selection of pictures of characters from the fascinating Tudor period, when the building was built and can also give anyone who is interested a potted history.
The building was built in 1581 to house one of the captains who were standing in readiness to fight the Armada when the Spaniards arrived. At this time the street was re-named as New Street, from the Strand which means shore or by the sea, lake or river. It is to commemo-rate this that the Strand Tea Rooms derived its name.
It is reputiated that a ghost of a cat is in residence and has been heard meowing but has not yet been seen.
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Large parts of Plymouth were destroyed during the second world war, but the spectacular Barbican area survived, preserving the mediaeval street layouts and many of the Tudor Dwellings. The Barbican is a maze of narrow streets and alley ways, adjacent to Sutton Harbour, the original seaport of this historic area. The Barbican is also the home to many art galleries and is a Mecca for local famous artists. The narrow streets provide a home for an array of unique and individual shops, a veritable Mecca for antique collectors and art lovers alike. The House That Jack Built is a fascinating parade of tiny and unusual shops. The Barbican Centre has over 25 craft shops, design shops, and antique shops.
As a place, the Barbican is full of history, in New Street is ‘Elizabethan House’, a beautifully restored Captain’s dwelling dating from 1548. In the house, you can see the original windows, spiral staircase winding around an old ship’s mast. A short stroll further along the street brings you to the entrance of the restored Elizabethan Gardens, with their ornate pond and tranquil atmosphere. Walter Raleigh Francis Drake, John Hawkins and Captain Cook, all strolled through the Barbican before setting off from this historic area for foreign climes. In more modern times, Scott of the Antarctic set off from here on his final expedition to the South Pole.
The Mayflower sailed from Plymouth on the 6th of September, 1620, with 102 passengers and 48 seamen. Most of these were Puritans who broke away from the Church of England during the reformation and were seeking a new life away from the persecution by James I. The pilgrims had originally departed to Holland, some twelve years earlier - but were afraid of the prospect of becoming engulfed in the Dutch way of life and losing their mother tongue, so they decided to return to England and from there to travel to America. The Pilgrim Fathers, set off for the New World from Southampton, putting into Dartmouth’s Bayard’s Cove, to rest for a while before their epic voyage. On the 20 August 1620, their ships - The Mayflower and The Speedwell, set of for Virginia. Some 300 miles west of Land’s End, they realised that the Speedwell was unseaworthy and returned to Plymouth - from where the Mayflower departed alone to complete the crossing to Cape Cod.
