A mixture of classical, rococo, Gothic and Chinese elements show the overlaying of various decorative schemes. The rococo flourishes around the door and the magnificent coffered ceiling, in which each octagonal recess is of a different design, was probably executed by the plasterer, William Perritt of York, who is known to have worked at Grimsthorpe in the 1760s.
Despite its Gothic-style vaulting, the oriel bow window is eighteenth century. In 1769, the writer Arthur Young observed ‘the tea room with a bow window is pretty’.
The exquisite Chinese wallpaper depicting flora and fauna amongst bamboo shoots, was probably hung in 1811. It is complemented by the Chinese fretwork, redecorated in its current striking black and gold scheme by Eloise, Countess of Ancaster in the 1920s.
