Horden Heritage Centre and Vintage Tea Room in County Durham

Loved every second of our time there. Perfect for any occasion

Great experience whilst visiting the park grounds remembering the past heritage of the area which used to look so different not so long ago before all collieries were closed., A Small museum above the cafe, a great collection from local ex-minors and their families. Also great homemade food and snacks, cake etc

One of the best afternoon tea’s I’ve had, only dropped a star off the food as the scones weren’t good, more like bread but the cakes made up for it!

cosy little place near a lovely park, good service and excellent food, a little gem in Horden which needs more of these venues

Just like grandma's parlour. Good old fashioned service and food choice. Cheap as chips and tasty. Try it, I did

Cowarth Park Afternoon Tea is fairly good but not so special as to know why it won the Best Award this year. The food was fresh and the tea good but I did not enjoy the fancy bread for the sandwiches and the scones looked very processed and left a bit of an after taste and the quince jam does not really suit scones as far as I am concerned. A scone to me should be of a round shape but it does not need to be perfect as these seemed to attempt to be, almost cylindrical. A fruit scone also should have fruit within it and not just a coupel of raisins on the side. The cakes were a little too sweet as well and, whilst it is the way with this type of meal and it was carried out very well, I prefer to pour my own tea exactly when I want it. Overall I have rated as 4 because it was nice enough but nothing extra special that I expected with the top award.

Lovely local, friendly service. Tuna & mayo on brown bread with latte and mug if tea. Though tables are all laid with china teacups, ask for a mug! Lovely selection of fresh cream cakes: cream meringue reminded me of my working days. Excellent cheesecake too. Extremely reasonable prices.

Excellent place for afternoon tea. Everything was spot on and we were made incredibly welcome. It was a treat for my mums birthday and they even came out with a small birthday cake such a lovely touch. Food was also excellent, I have nothing bad to say about this hotel and would highly recommend!

I grew up in Horden which was then a thriving mining village. I now live in Reno Nevada. The restored Welfare Park is a delight to walk through (read the benches to get a history of the village!). The Heritage Centre Vintage Tea Rooms are a sparkling gem. Everyone we met outside the tearoom was friendly, the customers inside were friendly but the staff were wonderful (and, of course, friendly). Then there was the food - 1960s cooking could not be bettered (truly Heritage). Making a choice from the super menu and the great prices was both a problem and really easy - everything was wonderful (although I can’t remember my man giving me corned beef pie and salad with dressing in 1960!). I would definitely rate this the best tea room I have ever visited if anyone wants to have food representing a working class place and an era. The Heritage Centre is a mine of memories (could have spent much longer both there and in the tearoom!All told - at least 6 out of 5!

Coworth is just a beautiful place to be. Its romantic and peaceful. Ideal !

LOOKING for unique treasure? - then you have found it ... and its located inside the Award Winning “Horden Welfare Park” in the shape of a vintage tea room. The ladies that work here are friendly, and take a real pride in the appearance of this historic place. It celebrates “the days gone by” with pictures and examples of Miners memories. The food menu is tremendous, and served with a smile; sandwiches, cakes, afternoon tea, etc. You can only say so much on here in words, my advice is just TRUST my post, especially when I say 10/10 or the word “EXCELLENT”.

Had an opportunity to visit the Cafe and what a lovely setting. Situated in the park the cafe has vintage crockery wonderful selection of tea, cakes and sandwiches all freshly made and the staff are really friendly. I said I would just have a cuppa when Maureen, one of ladies asked why I said I was coeliac and she promptly made me a lovely salad, with a cheese savoury addition I had to have the recipe for. Absolutely delicious and a lovely welcome.

Lovely park and excellent cafe.There is a wide range of play equipment for the children and adequate seating for the grown ups. The food and service in the cafe is brilliant and the vintage crockery really sets it off. if you look upstairs there is some lovely reminders of days gone by. Well worth a visit.

Great centre local heritage and historic pictures. Parking is easily available, staff friendly and the tea just warms the cockles up. Local park great for kids and dog walking

Yes, the cakes are excellent - I am sure the toilets are fine and dandy - but this is supposed to be a Heritage centre. When I was there a couple of years ago, the artefacts were in chaotic disarray and it would have been very difficult to learn anything at all about the history or people of Horden, Except for football.

We thoroughly enjoyed our afternoon at Coworth Park, the staff were very accommodating and the service was fantastic - we strongly recommend anyone to go.

Memories evoked from a great working period in the mine, and education of times before i existed, two lovely helpful girls,,, was a great afternoon 👍😀

Loved this little tea room on the park with toilets to its ideal when you in the park with your little ones in the summer. They sell loads of lovley cakes sconces all fresh and amazing prices and sells ice lollys for kids to.enjoy in tje park on a hot day. They also sell homemade pies quiches ect with outside picnics benches to have like a little picnic in the park

The heritage centre really is a hidden Gem ...tucked away at the bottom of Horden welfare park above the tea rooms ...it has a lift but the stairs are manageable to most people ...It's a small museum packed with artifacts of interest to both young and old ...lovely memories and some sad ones were got that day

After a walk around the park it's lovely to call in for a lovely pot of tea and sandwiches, very warm welcome. Open seasonal

The food served in here is traditional home baked fare. Think cream teas, scones, home made pies, as well as fresh sandwiches, soups and salads. All served on vintage china. Should you fancy a pot of tea, this is served on the same 'hotpotch' of vintage teacup and saucers, of course. The wonderful staff are volunteers and were just lovely on my visit. The upstairs of the cafe houses an wonderful, small but really interesting heritage centre. It provides an insight to the little towns mining history.The tea room and centre has been awarded the green flag award and also the green heritage site award. This cafe is open seasonally, so check to see if its open first but in any case its worth a visit, just to see the park. It is set inside the Welfare Park, see separate review.