Tiptree Jam Farm Tour & Cream Tea

Tiptree Jam Farm Tour :a 40 minute guided tractor tour around the Tiptree Fruit Farms where we have been farming since 1757 and making quality preserves since 1885. During the tour you will see traditional methods combined with cutting edge new technologies in fruit farming. During your visit you will be seated in the Tiptree Tea Room ‘Tiptree Secret Tea Garden’ under our marquee where you will be served a Tiptree Cream Tea with a tea or coffee*.

Tiptree Jam Museum: You can visit our Tiptree Jam Museum which holds the John Wilkin Collection. It is a great place to trace the history of Wilkin & Sons and Tiptree preserves, find out more about village life in Essex, and of course to find out all about jam-making. We also have our Jam Shop for all of your Tiptree favourites as well as a range of carefully selected giftware.

 A lifetime ago, J.S. Wilkin began collecting the paraphernalia of preserve making and Essex village life. In quiet corners of the preserve factory he carefully stored away pictures, documents and redundant machines. Then, as the business approached its Centenary celebrations, ‘Mr. John’, as he is known, asked for room to display some of his hoard.

At first, the collection was displayed in a private room within the factory. Mr. John’s wife Daphne worked tirelessly to record each artefact and document, producing notices to explain and help visitors understand the history of the jam-making business and indeed that of the village itself.

Later, with the opening of the museum in a renovated farm building at Tiptree, Mr. John’s foresight was at last rewarded. Today, visitors can see how village life used to be and how the art of preserve-making has advanced over the years at Tiptree.

In recent years we have been making some changes to the museum to bring it back to life, including the opportunity to dress up like one of our jam makers from 1885.