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An enterprising British gardener has begun planting tea in England and it tastes a lot like Sri Lankan tea!

Having been a tea planter in Sri Lanka in the 50’s and 60’s, never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that one day I would see a full-grown tea estate in England.

In a 2000-acre property at Tregothnan Estate in Cornwall, southern England, gardener Jonathan Jones has succeeded in creating England's first tea garden of 20 acres. I contacted him after I heard of his amazing feat, and he invited me to Cornwall to see what he has achieved.

What I saw impressed me greatly. He has so far planted 20 acres of tea and wants to expand it. His dedication, perseverance and hard work has paid off, the flush on the tea bushes ample testimony to his efforts. It’s not a case of taking coal to Newcastle – this is taking Nuwara Eliya tea to Cornwall.

A small area of the Truro Botanical Garden in Cornwall, has had tea growing for the past 200 years. “As the climate is good for tea growing, I decided to plant tea on a small plot on this estate,” Jones told me proudly, as he showed me round. The tea is growing well, though not as flush as in Sri Lanka.

He has 20 tea pluckers on the estate plucking tea by hand every ten days. The green leaf is then withered and five pounds of leaf makes one pound of made tea. The whole process is done by hand, including the packing of the final product, as there is no machinery at present. This means the tea is expensive. Fifty grammes of Tregothnan tea costs three sterling pounds in the market, which is nearly seven times the price of popular brands of tea. The novelty and the unique taste of the tea combine to make it a best seller.

Jones has held promotions in various supermarkets, and this week he is having a demonstration and sale at Hatfield House in London.

“Tregothnan Estate has succeeded in creating the ultimate quality leaf in conditions superior even to those in Darjeeling. Tregothnan has a history of botanical firsts, and is home to original introductions of Magnolia and rarities from Darjeeling. These now tower to 60 ft and are among the largest in cultivation. Tregothnan has been passionately cared for by the Lord Falmouth's family since 1335,” Jones says.

Tea comes from a special form of Camellia sinensis. Tregothnan was also the first to grow Camellia ornamentally outdoors 200 years ago. Their present achievement has been with support from across the tea industry worldwide. Connoisseurs, planters, packers, scores of tea specialists, as well as Objective One's Cornish Horticulture Enterprises have helped Tregothnan deliver a world first: True English Tea!

“Now we are planning a new garden for Cornwall, a true tea garden with rolling acres of tea, factory, tearooms and many surprises, telling the real secrets of tea with the full support of the international tea industry,” he continued.

Jonathan Jones revealed that he wants to expand the tea plantation, the first in Europe. With people shying away from overseas travel, because of the threat to flights from UK to USA last week, he expects more European visitors to come to his plantation. His dream is to import a complete tea factory from Sri Lanka and install it in Cornwall. He hopes to attract the services of an experienced tea planter from Sri Lanka to expand his business.

It is the British who introduced tea to Sri Lanka. So it seems natural that it is a Britisher who has now created the first ever tea estate in the UK. If I had not seen it, felt the unique sensation of seeing and smelling the tea, and caressed the two leaves and a bud on the healthy bush, I would not have believed any brochure on the subject of tea growing in UK.

But Jonathan Jones has done it.

After returning home, I made a cup of tea with the pound of tea he gave me as a gift. I could close my eyes and imagine I was tasting the aroma I had come to love as a planter, first in Poonagala and then on our family property at Yapland, Waralla. The tea has to be tasted to believe it. Jonathan Jones has achieved the impossible.