Where you can find the best National Trust scone in Britain - right here in Yorkshire

There are few simple pleasures in life to match with a cream tea after a day exploring Britain’s most loved properties and gardens.
Victoria Finan
By Victoria Finan
Published 2nd Mar 2023, 14:02 BST
Updated 2nd Mar 2023, 14:04 BST

And residents and visitors to York’s Treasurer’s House, the National Trust owned home of the former treasurer of York Minster, can look forward to one of the very best scones in the country, according to a well-placed expert who has visited every National Trust property in England and Wales to rate their confections.

Sarah Merker, 49, from Isleworth, London, is the mastermind behind a blog called nationaltrustscones.com, where she has documented a 10-year journey trying the treat at every National Trust location in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland that can provide one.

Her mission was finally completed on Wednesday when Ms Merker visited the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland for one last scone, to feel as though she had finished the task alongside her husband, Peter, who died from cancer in 2018.

Sarah Merker, 49, from Isleworth, London, who has completed a decade-long project to sample a scone at every possible National Trust locationSarah Merker, 49, from Isleworth, London, who has completed a decade-long project to sample a scone at every possible National Trust location
Sarah Merker, 49, from Isleworth, London, who has completed a decade-long project to sample a scone at every possible National Trust location

“It’s all very emotional, it’s been a weird experience,” Ms Merker, a marketing director, said.

“I don’t know what I’d call it – it’s more than a hobby… It’s taken up a lot of my time and effort over the past 10 years and I’ll really miss it.

“It’s just played a very important part of my life.

Part of the experience Ms Merker shared with her husband, Peter, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2016 and died two years later.

Marking the end of the project at the Giant’s Causeway, Ms Merker said it was her way of finishing it with him.

“He’d been there for so much of it and obviously I have memories of doing it with him,” she said.

“So, for me, it was really important to finish it for him as well – I wanted to make sure I got to the end."

She has tried some 244 scones over the past ten years - and singles out the festive scone with brandy butter at the Treasurer’s House as a particular favourite.

Describing it on her blog as “off the scale delicious,” the Christmas pudding themed scone is the creation of food and beverage manager William Drury and is available around the festive season.

He said: “It’s been great to watch the challenge over the years and to be named the National Trust scone blogger’s favourite scone feels like the baking Oscars. Of course, the festive season is a long way off, but we think it’s so well received as it literally tastes like Christmas…and the brandy butter helps.”

Below Treasurer’s House, under the café, is a Roman Road and visitors sat enjoying their scones might hear the distant march and hooves if history repeats what apprentice plumber Harry Martindale allegedly saw 70 years ago - a battalion of ghostly soldiers.

“Treasurer’s House is known to be haunted and the story of the Roman Ghosts has certainly captured the imagination for over 70 years. We’ve not heard or seen more of them since around this time but there are plenty more reports of senses and sightings around the house.

"Visitors have been known to need to leave a room quickly or children sit on certain seats, invited by ‘the kind lady.’ The team keep a log and it’s interesting to see how many similarities pop up,” said Sue Jordan, Visitor Operations & Experiences Manager.