Two hands,
one oak-fired oven
Thomas Hearth was a carpenter by trade. He built things that lasted. When he met Eleanor — a baker who had spent three years learning under a Lyonnaise maître boulanger — they pooled their hands and their savings into a stone building on Millstone Lane.
The oven came first. Thomas built it himself from reclaimed brickwork and seasoned oak. It took eight weeks and three collapsed attempts. On the fourth try, it held — and it's been burning ever since.
A living
inheritance
In 1992, Eleanor cultivated a wild sourdough starter from the ambient yeasts of our hillside orchard. She named it "Mable." Mable is still alive today — 33 years old, fed twice daily — and she leavens every heritage loaf we bake.
We don't use commercial yeast. We don't add improvers. We bake with time, temperature, and Mable.
Viennoiserie &
the next generation
When their daughter Clara returned from Paris with laminated dough secrets tucked under her arm, the bakery added croissants, danishes, and brioches to its offer. The queue on Saturday mornings has never been shorter than 25 people.
Clara now leads the pastry kitchen. She is, as her mother puts it, "unconscionably good with butter."
The hearth
still burns
Three generations have now worked this kitchen. The stone oven Thomas built still gives heat before 4am every morning. We still use Mable. We still argue gently about whether the croissants need one more fold.
Nothing about what we do is efficient. Everything about what we do is intentional.
