eNews Letters

04 June - Let them eat cake at Arlington Court

Arlington Court, a property of the National Trust, is insisting that its visitors behave like French revolutionary peasants and eat plenty of cake, while discovering some Victorian ‘Past Times and Pleasures’ on Sunday 22 June, 11am-3pm.

This special event gives visitors the chance to not only see but ‘have-a-go’ at many Victorian leisure pursuits, from archery and croquet to embroidery and crochet! Crafty ladies of North Devon and local groups such as Kenwith Company of Archers and Barnstaple Croquet Club will be there to show off their skills. However, right at this moment they are offering a fantastic new rhubarb cake made from rhubarb freshly picked from Arlington’s own restored walled kitchen garden. The garden is not only supplying the tearoom with produce and the house with cut flowers, just as it would have done in Victorian times, but is even providing the newly opened Shirwell Stores with delicious fruit and vegetables.

Like the Victorians the property is using the kitchen garden crops as they become available season by season and trialling a range of new recipes. Catering Manager Julie Baddeley explained, ‘The National Trust is committed to using fresh local food in all its tearooms and we bake all our cakes on site. Our latest ideas include the rhubarb cake, which is has a crunchy brown sugar topping and is scrumptious with cream and a savoury cream tea that is great for diabetics as it has virtually no sugar in it. The savoury tea is cheese scones, with cream cheese, topped with spicy Gardeners Relish or Rhubarb Chutney. The Relish and the Conserve are made by Cranfields Foods, who are just ˝ mile down the road from Arlington Court, using our vegetables. The Gardeners Relish, made exclusively with Arlington Court’s courgettes and onions, won a Taste of the West Silver award in 2007.’

Continuing the catering theme from the past the property will also be reviving a Victorian recipe this June as they host an Historic Cake Baking competition at their annual Country Skills Day on Wednesday 25 June, 11am-3pm. The recipe for the cake is from a notebook belonging to a cook at Arlington Court dated 1873. To enter the competition please contact the property on 01271 850296 for further information.

Both Past Times and Pleasures and Country Skills Day are part of the North Devon Festival programme and are free to participate in with normal grounds admission, which is free to National Trust members and the under 5s.

North Devon FestivalBarnstaple Fringe Gold Coast OceanfestArt Trek 2008 North Devon CouncilNorth Devon Marketing Bureau