The Orchard is a tea room and garden in the English village of Grantchester, near Cambridge, serving morning coffee, lunches and afternoon teas. Since opening in 1897, it has been a popular retreat for Cambridge students, teachers and tourists, as well as locals, with many famous names among its patrons. The Orchard is open year-round, and is most pleasantly approached by punt along the River Cam, or along the footpath and cycleway through the Grantchester Meadows.
History
The orchard was planted in 1868, opposite the ancient Church of St Andrew and St Mary. By the 1890s the adjoining house and its grounds were in the hands of a Mrs Stevenson, who served tea to lodgers and visitors on the front garden. A group of Cambridge students asked the landlady if she could serve their refreshments in the orchard instead. This practice soon became the norm, and the place grew in popularity.
Stands the church clock at ten-to-three? And is there honey still for tea?
Subsequently, the ownership of Orchard House and the tea room passed to Robin Callan, originator of the Callan Method for the study of English by non-native speakers.[citation needed]