A CONSTABLE Country tea room which dates back to the 16th Century has reopened following renovation work.Guest of honour at the Essex Rose in Dedham was former owner Mary Loe, 84, who was traced after an appeal.

A CONSTABLE Country tea room which dates back to the 16th Century has reopened following renovation work.

Guest of honour at the Essex Rose in Dedham was former owner Mary Loe, 84, who was traced after an appeal.

The tea room had just been taken over by Wilkin and Sons, of Tiptree, and the conserve specialist were keen to trace the history of the building and its former inhabitants.

Visitors to the tea room came to current manager Pat Vince with fresh leads on the woman who used to run the Essex Rose.

Eventually, Miss Loe was traced to her new home in Colchester and she was brought to the relaunch of the tea room following £75,000-worth of modernisation work, intended to improve facilities at the Essex Rose, while maintaining its traditional atmosphere.

Ian Thurgood, sales director of Wilkin and Sons, said: "We are delighted to see the Essex Rose fully operational once again and to welcome Miss Loe back to Dedham.

"The Essex Rose owes its present reputation to the earlier efforts of Miss Loe and Del Bower (another former owner)."

Miss Loe named the tea room the Essex Rose in 1959 and she said: "I wanted to call it the Suffolk Rose, but I couldn't because it wasn't in Suffolk."

Mr Bower still bakes his fresh scones at the Essex Rose using his secret recipe, which he doesn't divulge.