Which way do you scone?

Controversy erupted in the UK in March when Cornwall’s Lanhydrock National Trust posted a picture on Facebook of a scone with cream under the jam, a tradition associated with rival county Devon. Traditionally, Cornwall scones are served with jam first, then cream, while Devonians reach for the cream first, then pop the jam on top.

The post drew comments from hundreds of outraged Cornish people, such as: “Shame on you NT. This is cultural vandalism. Scone, then strawberry jam, then clotted cream. Anything else is not the Cornish way. This message is not tongue in cheek!”

Cornish travel editor Julia Buckley told The Independent, “It’s not even that this is an incredibly sensitive topic that the National Trust played badly, it’s also an affront to common sense. That the cream should top a cream tea is obvious to everyone on the planet except people from Devon.”

The Lanhydrock National Trust responded to the controversy with another post.

“We’d like to sincerely apologise for any offence caused by a recent scone-shot shown on the page. The member of staff responsible has been reprimanded and marched back over the Tamar. We’d like to reassure our Cornish community that our catering team would never make such a heinous mistake and that our jam and cream are usually served in little pots so the order of their application is not subject to such appalling error.”