THE owners of a town centre cafe will take over the running of historic Victorian tea rooms.

The lease for Butlers Retreat in Chingford Plain has been awarded to the owners of the Larder on Wanstead High Street.

Butlers Retreat, which was run as a cafe by the Butler family from 1895 to the 1970s, has been closed since 2009.

The owner of the Grade II listed building, the City of London Corporation, which is responsible for Epping Forest, has renovated it as part of a £6.8 million project for the area, which includes a visitor's centre, refurbishment of Queen Elizabeth's Hunting Lodge and new roads for the area.

There are plans to reopen the tea rooms in late October.

Paul Thomson, the superintendent of Epping Forest, said: “Following an extensive tendering process, we are pleased to announce that the catering lease has been awarded to the Larder, whose cafe on Wanstead High Street is entering its fifth year of operation.

“The Larder will be bringing its lively take on cafe culture to the Retreat, with a diverse menu to suit all moods from morning to afternoon, favouring organic goods and local producers, with food prepared freshly each day on the premises.”

Butlers Retreat, which is next to Queen Elizabeth’s Hunting Lodge, was originally built as a barn to store the harvest for the lord of Chingford in the 19th century.

The City of London converted the building to a cafe in 1878 and it was a popular spot for day-trippers visiting Chingford from central London on the train for the rest of the Victorian era.

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