Victorian bakehouses: a hidden history unearthed

Archaeology dig reveals where Preston
women baked before they had ovens

Back in 1978 a major redevelopment was being carried out in the Maudlands district of Preston and the work attracted the attention of archaeologists, who reached an agreement with Wimpeys, the building contractors, to monitor the sites.

The archaeologists placed posters in building huts and site offices asking to be notified of any archaeological finds. One of the site agents, Michael Glover, got in touch to tell them that an excavator had uncovered what he thought was an ancient structure.

This excited the archaeologists, for the Maudlands were the site of a medieval hospital. What they found when they visited was nothing like so old, but proved to be extremely interesting. As they dug down, they realised they had come across a Victorian communal bakehouse that had been built as an extension to an ordinary terraced house in Peel Street, with ovens in the cellar. Women would bring their loaves to the bakehouse to be baked, because earlier in the 19th century working-class houses did not have ovens.

John Hallam prepared an account of the excavation, which was published in 1981 as Internal Report No. 17 of the Central Lancashire Archaeological Research Unit with the title ‘19th-century Communal Bakehouses in Preston’. An interesting aside is that the booklet includes the information that at that date the Harris Museum employed an archaeologist who had an assistant.

This what John Hallam, who was director of the research unit, had to say about the discovery:

‘Whilst this bakehouse is the first of its kind to be recorded it is unlikely to have been the only one. There are probably more lying unsuspected in similar situations beneath houses in the old streets of Preston and the other mill towns of Lancashire. Close examination of large-scale 19th century maps and analysis of Census Returns could provide clues to their location. Hopefully, a few others may be excavated before all the streets are gone forever.

‘This newly discovered type of bakehouse is a further example of Victorian enterprise. Built into a terraced row it shows a skilful economy of space within the rigid confines of the street plan and at the same time its half-cellar arrangement provided the necessary insulation for a beehive oven. An additional factor was the bakehouse could be run from the terraced house as a ‘cottage industry’ – an arrangement familiar to families fresh from rural backgrounds.’

Excavations of the Maudlands site produced no further discoveries and the remains of the bakehouse were filled in. But that was not the end of the story.

Brackenbury Street finds

When the discovery was reported in the Lancashire Evening Post a Mr and Mrs Livesey got in touch with the news that they had a similar oven in the cellar beneath their house in Brackenbury Street. The archaeologists set about clearing out the cellar, which nobody had entered for the last thirty years. They report that it was ‘one of the filthiest jobs the Unit had ever undertaken’.

The archaeologists were disappointed because: ‘At the time of the investigation the property was up for sale and later enquiries revealed it was planned for demolition as part of an urban re-development scheme. Although strong representation was made for the shop and three [adjoining] houses to be preserved as an example of a 19th century mill street nothing came of it.’

Old deeds and street plans were searched, which revealed more bakehouses ‘giving the impression they were a recognised part of street development’.

John Hallam noted:

‘The unexpected discovery of beehive ovens built into the Victorian mill streets of Preston shows the close links between the early cotton towns and the rural traditions from which they sprang. Most of the families working in the mills came from different rural areas scattered about the country. Whilst their accents may have differed many of the women would have been familiar with baking their own bread in communal ovens …’

The introduction of kitchen ranges into working-class homes nearer the end of the century led to the demise of the bakehouses, although John Hallam noted that some continued well into the 20th century:

‘… where bread and muffins were baked in the old way. In some cases after the day’s baking customers were allowed to bake in the shop’s ovens. In other instances certain private terraced houses known only to local families sold potato-pie or steak puddings at dinner time, providing a similar service to that of the Peel Street ovens a hundred years before.’