National Archives & tea

Ok, well the next day we decided to go to the National Archives. The museum wasn’t very large at all. In fact, the main attraction (obviously) is to check materials out of the archives themselves. However, we did go to the museum and check out the biggest draw there, the Domesday Book. Commissioned by William the Conqueror and completed by 1086, it is basically a census of England and determined taxes/tribute. The Great Domesday Book (all of England minus northern counties) and the Little Domesday Book (Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex) are on display at the museum. The Great Domesday Book was practically written by one person over many years on sheepskin. The rest of the museum had old books of the Exchequer, spy memorabilia, and a photo of an African slave trading ship. It seems that most of the museum is there for the Domesday Books though. We spent an hour there before we headed off with the intent to come back and for Beckie to research some genealogy. We stopped in at The Maids of Honour for some afternoon tea. The shop was right along Kew Road and across from Kew Gardens. It feels like a teahouse should, I suppose; timbered, pastel colors, and local employees. The tea and scones were relatively cheap and good. After our civilized English tea, we trekked off to the rugged Thames Path for another cache and then rode the bus back. Rough.