 A wishing well in the cafe garden of Teapot Island. | |
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| Established | 2003 |
|---|---|
| Location | Yalding, Kent |
| Coordinates | 51°13′18″N0°25′05″E / 51.2217°N 0.4181°E |
| Collection size | 8,400 Teapots |
| Website | Official Website |
Teapot Island is a teapot museum in Kent, England. The museum grew from the personal teapot collection of owner Sue Blazye, which started when her grandmother gave her a teapot in 1983, encouraging other family members and friends to do the same. [1]
After Sue Blayze acquired her first teapot in 1983 - a terracotta clay teapot with painted flowers, her collection has grown and this eventually led to her needing a larger space to house it. [2] She established Teapot Island in Yalding, in November 2002. [1] The building used for the collection used to be a cafe called the Riverside Diner, which had been in operation since the 1950s. [3] [4] The collection stood at over 8,500 teapots in 2024, and has been valued at around £250,000. [2]
Teapot Island was featured in the Guinness Book of World Records in 2004, for being the largest collection of teapots. [1] The museum lost this title in 2011, when it was awarded to a man in China with a collection of 30,000. [5] In 2011, the museum was featured in the book Crap Days Out , in which the authors stated: "It's awful if you don't like teapots. But it's probably all right if you do." [6]
In 2014, King Charles III and Queen Camilla visited the museum, with Camilla purchasing a novelty camel teapot as a souvenir. [7]
In 2023 the couple put the property up for sale, stating they wished to retire. The property was initially listed for £950,000, with the price later being reduced to £875,000. The teapot collection was not included in the property sale, however the couple stated they were willing to sell this separately. [7] [8]
