THE former home of Tatton Park’s head gardener may have been transformed into a tea room, but it has lost none of its green-fingered tradition.

Diners can take afternoon tea overlooking the estate’s walled garden orchard and much of the menu is made up of produce from Tatton’s Victorian kitchen garden.

Former head gardener Sam Youd lived in the cottage with his family until he retired last year.

His successor and Weekend columnist Simon Tetlow was then consulted on the project to ensure the menu reflected Tatton’s seasonal best.

The kitchen gardens include a grape store, fruit room, mushroom shed, pinery and tomato house while the orchard near the Gardener’s Cottage is home to about 85 apple and 40 pear varieties.

Tatton’s own baker Margaret Clark makes the afternoon tea cakes by hand and many of the deli ingredients come from the park’s Housekeeper’s Store The rest of the produce is sourced from the wider Cheshire area and the north west including artisan breads, cheeses and meats.

Duncan Stewart, operations manager at Tatton, said: “I have been delighted to work on such an exciting project.

“Our aim throughout the planning process was to create a truly wonderful dining experience by using the natural assets of the building and its unique location within the historic Tatton Park setting.”

The Gardener’s Cottage is part of wider plans to transform Tatton’s stableyard.

Five-year project Tatton Park Vision aims to increase attractions at the estate in a bid to reach a million visitors a year by 2016.

Brendan Flanagan, Tatton Park manager, added. “All our current plans and developments are there to ensure visitors continue to enjoy Tatton Park well in to the future.”

Kitchen gardens are believed to have been on the Tatton site since 1750 providing year round produce for former landowners the Egerton family.

At that time, fruit and vegetables would have been grown and cultivated by a team of 70 gardeners and 40 servants.