When I was young the small ones were called teacakes (you had to specify if you wanted plain or currant teacakes in the bakers) and the larger ones were called breadcakes. Mr O is from near the borders and he called the small ones bread buns and the large ones stotties.
As far as I know, a bread roll is made from bread dough, the same as a loaf of bread, whereas a teacake is a sweet bun with currants in it which you eat toasted and spread with butter. Two totally different things.
agree with Bewley Bros description of a tea-cake. Cant add any more alternatives for a bread roll other than thse already here..... but you may not have heard of Oasis Soup?? So called because 'you get a roll with it!!'
A Bread Roll is one of those small crispy crusted round lumps of bread that you have with soup and a Tea Cake is a lump of bread with sultanas in it, that is usually toasted. A Barm Cake is what you use to make a sandwich eg a steak barmcake, salad barmcake. South Lancashire.
I am in west lancs and teacakes are like toasted current buns here. we have barm cakes, but the co-op insist on calling them 'oven bottom muffins' pretentious gits
The 'tea cakes' that BB refers to above are known to me as chocolate tea cakes, and are different to your general tea cakes, and of course your jaffa 'cakes'.