Marsh's Tea Gardens - Melbourne Street
Marsh's Tea Gardens - Melbourne Street


Standing outside the village pharmacy and looking across the car park towards the Jubilee Hall today, there is no evidence of the elegant tea garden that once stood in the grounds of Hillworth House and shop in the early years of the 20th century. All that remains today are a number of picture postcards sharing the delights of “Marsh's Tea Garden”.

The first telephone lines were introduced into Bratton in 1907, and the phone number “Bratton No. 3” displayed on these multi-image postcards gives an indication of Marsh's status in the village. In the 1915 Kelly's Directory, Frank S. Marsh's was recorded as “Grocer, Confectioner, Draper and Tea Garden”, and also secretary of the Bratton Dairy Company Limited. In fact, the “Trades” section of Kelly's listed Marsh's tea gardens at Bratton, and at Westbury, and at the Edington Monastery. In her recollections of her Bratton childhood, Stella Ashton recalls “From time to time we went rowing on the lake at Edington, which in those days was beside a Tea Garden so that one could first have tea outdoors and then go for a row on the old monastery lake. Maisie and I enjoyed this very much.”

Tea gardens typically served dainty luncheons, afternoon teas and refreshments. At a time when pubs were only frequented by men, they offered a tee-total place of respite for “respectable women”. Families also found the pleasant surroundings an ideal location for professional photographers to compose formal family portraits.

One could enter the Bratton tea garden through a small gate to the right of the village shop. Patrons enjoyed a large lawn, scattered with a selection of tables, chairs, benches and deckchairs. Along one side stood a fine summer house pavilion whose covered terrace provided shaded seating. This also served as the village surgery for Doctors Richard and Shorland, with patients walking through the tea garden to gain access to the surgery. The doctors were required to make up patients’ prescriptions themselves as, unlike today, there was no village pharmacy.




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Bratton History Association.

The Bratton History Association aims to provide all those curious about local history with an opportunity to meet, exchange ideas, and discover more about the history of Bratton and Wiltshire. Activities include monthly meetings, talks by professional historians, visits to places of interest to historians, and our own local history project.

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