WORK to fully convert a former clock museum into a tearoom has been completed.

Tymperleys, in Colchester town centre, closed as a museum in 2010 to save Colchester Council cash.

It was taken over by the Charrington family, who also run Layer Marney Tower, in December 2013, and they opened it as a tearoom last year.

Renovations have been ongoing, with the cafe’s kitchen completed and reopened last week and plans are now in the pipeline to show plays in the garden.

Nicholas Charrington said: “Old buildings like Tymperleys and Layer Marney Tower need purpose or otherwise they are a burden. They need to change and develop to keep them as living entities.

“It is wonderful watching Tymperleys spring back to life. We have taken on a 125-year lease so we hope to contribute to it for a long time to come. ”

The Fifties servants’ quarter has been replaced with a new modern glass-fronted kitchen.

It allows Tymperleys to run a 60-person restaurant and tearoom in the daytime and events in the evenings.

Sheila Charrington said: “We have had all sorts of events so far, from wine tasting to yoga, Father Christmas tea parties to 70th birthday parties.

“Afternoon teas, tiers of little cakes, scones and sandwiches, with or without champagne are quickly becoming fashionable, drawing people in for celebrations of all sorts.”

Their eldest daughter, Alice Charrington, is managing the day-to-day running of the business.

She said: “As a restaurant tearoom it is a haven from the busy town centre. Sitting in the garden on a sunny day, you would never know you were in the town at all.

“So many of the customers have spoken of their memories of coming to see plays in the garden here that the tradition is to be revived and so Chapter House Theatre Company are bringing the Secret Garden to be performed in the garden this August.”