Tea Through Time

How has tea has been taken in London homes through the last 400 years? What has tea has meant to Hackney's diaspora communities? What does tea tell us about colonial histories?

Pick up our free, self-guided Tea Through Time trail at the Information Desk. The trail will take you around the Museum and finishes in our beautiful Gardens Through Time, with a display of herbs that can be made into teas.

On Saturday 21 May, International Tea Day, the trail also includes a FREE cup of tea in the beautiful Gardens Through Time, where our volunteers can tell you about our project working with local people creating a tea blend for Hackney.

* Explore tea-sets, tea-taking settings and tea herbs from different design periods

* Find out how the histories of sugar, mahogany, etiquette, class, slavery and service, belonging, migration and empire intersect through the seemingly simple act of taking tea at home

* Families and children can interact with our Tea House installation, play at making tea and share their own teapot designs

* Learn about herbs we grow in our Gardens Through Time that can be made into teas

* Continue your learning at home by exploring tea objects and histories on our Museum collections site