Cornish Tea Treats – a photographic collection

Collated by these organisations with photographs provided by many people and to them we give our thanks (see credits).

The Tea Treat

Wasn’t it yesterday we marched with the band?

A straggling group proclaiming its faith.

Girls in smart dresses and boys in best suits

and ladies who made it a fashion parade.

Wasn’t it yesterday we traipsed through the lanes?

With only the cows to watch with a grin.

We’d walk and we’d walk ‘til the leader said turn

then back to the field in time to begin.

Wasn’t it yesterday we gorged on those buns

and then washed them down with tea oh sublime.

Then games with our friends … so many now gone

Just memories remain of that different time.

Wasn’t it yesterday we marched with the band?

(Anon)

Now, in 2025, it may not be appreciated how significant tea treats were to the community. Everything stopped for the occasion and in some of the smaller neighbourhoods it was the biggest event on the calendar. Most people attending were local, but visitors were usually made welcome. The venue may have been someone’s large garden or a suitable field. The grass would have been cut, decorations erected and someone appointed to look after the kettle as no event would have been complete without the iconic cup tae (sic).

Tea treats arose directly from the creation of Sunday schools which seem to have first appeared in Cornwall during the late 18^th century. These schools offered some sort of refreshment from the outset and there are early newspaper reports of ‘tea-drinking’ events. It is likely that the events, or treats, as they are now affectionately recalled, evolved rather than arrived as a blue flash and as tea often featured in these, the use of the term ‘tea treat’ was not a huge step although in some areas of Cornwall they were given a different name.

There is no doubting that the tea treat, or whatever name it was first given, originated as a religious procession. The annual parades, led by the banner bearers and a group of musicians, was a demonstration of the strength of the chapel and of the faith of those taking part. The gatherings began as acts of devotion, but this noble purpose was soon combined with the enjoyment of great social occasions in the life of the local chapels. They included entertainment, games, elaborate refreshments, the opportunity to parade the latest fashions and, at some unknown date, the enjoyment of chomping through the famous tea treat buns.

This photographic collection is an historical record of these most Cornish events – The Tea Treat.

CORNISH TEA TREATS

Please click above

Collated by Tony Mansell (Bardh Kernow)

The Cornish National Music Archive (CNMA) has published a comprehensive project about Cornish Tea Treats, it can be found here:   https://cornishnationalmusicarchive.co.uk/content/cornish-tea-treats-introduction/