We took my friend Elly from Holland on a little local tour and ended up in the lovely little town of Axbridge; in need of a cup of coffee we went to the Almshouse Tea Shop which we had never been to before.
It isn’t just called the Almshouse, it actually was an almshouse, built about 1450 to accommodate twenty-four poor and elderly men. They were housed in four dormitories, which must have been quite nice for them to have company and there was a fire in each of the rooms. It took a few hundred years before women were allowed to be sheltered in the almshouse and it was in continual use until a workhouse was opened in Axbridge in the 1840’s. Redundant for its original purpose the building became a brewery. It lay empty for many years but has been restored and the Tea Shop still has some lovely old features, beautiful oak beams, and is a lovely old place, but very comfortable for modern coffee and tea drinkers.
Lois Elsden 
I’ll have to give this a try next time i’m out that way.
Jim
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It was lovely – and so is the village of Axbridge! http://loiselden.com/2012/07/11/somerset-the-town-of-axbridge/
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What a charming place !!
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You would love it, Mal, delicious cakes, delicious coffee and friendly people!
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