Afternoon tea at The Tea Barn, Whitley

22nd November 2025

I always think to get the most out of where you live there should be constant exploration of your local businesses and eateries. With that in mind I wanted to find the afternoon tea closest to my house. Turns out that was The Tea Barn on Fulham Lane in Whitley.

This charming cafe is at a little farm, on a quiet road, surrounded by fields out in the countryside of East Yorkshire. It is a quiet and tranquil place to pop in and have an afternoon tea. Inside has been decorated beautifully with some original stone walls, pink flowers, fairy lights, stag and ranch decor making it a nice place to sit and unwind. And I have to call out the staff, they are wonderful friendly women that accomadate requests and make you feel right at home

Now to the food and drink. Unlike the upscale afternoon teas, the drinks were limited to your basic teapot of good old english tea, and coffee or hot chocolate. However the hot chocolate did come in the shape of a highland cow which delighted me greatly. Now this is a countryside local cafe, so one does not expect luxurious sandwich fillings and delicate patisserie made by a professional pastry chef. The food is rustic and hearty as one might expect. What I was not expecting however was the sheer size of this 4 tier banquet of an afternoon tea. It was filled to the brim with good hearty sized sandwiches, a pork pie, a smoked salmon blini, pigs in blankets, scones and not delicate bite-size cakes….oh no…full sized cake slices and biscuits. And to finish it all off the stand was dotted with fresh fruit and violets, making it look like a true summer yorkshire picnic but with the elegance of afternoon tea presentation.

All in all whilst a lot of the afternoon tea features would struggle to compete with the luxury and delicacy of the upscale restaurants and boutique hotels, this does not mean however it is a worse experience. In fact I am not exaggerating when I say this Tea Barn is probably the best thing about Whitley. And whilst there isn’t a lot to do in our small village, if you happen to be driving by and fancy an afternoon tea I strongly recommend stopping here. And I count myself lucky it is but mere minutes from my doorstep.

Check us out on tiktok and instagram to see more from our visit to The Tea Barn

@tea_with_twine