Afternoon tea, that most quintessential of English customs is, perhaps surprisingly, a relatively new tradition. Whilst the custom of drinking tea dates back to the third millennium BC in China and was popularised in England during the 1660s by King Charles II, it was not until the mid 19th century that the concept of ‘afternoon tea’ first appeared.下午茶是英國傳統的精華所在，但它并沒有特別悠久的歷史。在中國，飲茶的歷史可以追溯到公元前3000年，而在英國，喝茶的風俗直到17世紀60年代英王查爾斯二世時期才開始興盛起來。而下午茶的概念要到19世紀中葉才出現。

Afternoon tea was introduced in England by Anna, the seventh Duchess of Bedford, in the year 1840. The Duchess would become hungry around four o'clock in the afternoon. The evening meal in her household was served fashionably late at eight o'clock, thus leaving a long period of time between lunch and dinner. The Duchess asked that a tray of tea, bread and butter and cake be brought to her room during the late afternoon. This became a habit of hers and she began inviting friends to join her.下午茶是由第七任貝德福公爵夫人安娜在1840年創造出來的。公爵夫人在下午四點鐘左右常常會感到饑餓，而根據當時的風尚，晚餐要在八點鐘才會開始，于是午餐和晚餐中間就有很長的一段時間。公爵夫人就命人把茶，黃油面包和蛋糕在下午晚些時候送到她的房間里去吃。這以后就成了她的習慣了，而且她開始邀請好友一起來飲茶吃點心。

This pause for tea became a fashionable social event. During the 1880's upper-class and society women would change into long gowns, gloves and hats for their afternoon tea which was usually served in the drawing room between four and five o'clock.自此之后，茶歇就成了一種社會潮流。在19世紀80年代，通常，下午茶會安排在起居室，時間大約是在下午四點到五點，而上層社會的女士們則會穿著長裙，戴手套和帽子來品用下午茶。

Traditional afternoon tea consists of a selection of dainty sandwiches, scones served with clotted cream. Cakes and pastries are also served. Tea grown in India or Ceylon is poured from silver tea pots into delicate bone china cups.傳統的下午茶包括精選的三明治，英式奶油松餅，還有蛋糕和其他甜點。選用印度或錫蘭出產的茶葉放入銀質茶壺內泡茶，再將茶水倒在精致的中國骨瓷茶杯中飲用。