The bakery, established in 1854, is one of the oldest brick buildings in town, with a rare wood-fired scotch oven. The concerns of some, recently posted on the Maldon Noticeboard Facebook site that the bakery was to be repurposed as a cafe, have now been allayed by new owner Rebecca Barnett.
“I come from a family of five generations of bakers,” said Rebecca. “Some of my earliest memories are of going to my Nan and Pop’s bakery and the beautiful warm smell of freshly baked bread coming out of the oven. Mum grew up rolling the dough and making the crosses on the hot cross buns at Easter. It was all hands on deck. “I have engaged some very talented bakers and pastry chefs.”
Rebecca will be restoring the original wood-fired scotch oven with the help of locals with extensive experience in working with scotch ovens.
“It will be wonderful to have traditionally baked bread. We’re going to have great pies, pastries and many new items on the menu. I’ll be buying produce and supplies from local growers and meat from the Maldon Butcher.”
“I’m looking forward to connecting with the community. I will be involved with many local events such as the Easter Bake, reinstating the traditional Maldon scone bake-off, supporting the school and all the other local events. I’m planning on having steam-train-shaped biscuits available for purchase!”
Plans for the building include opening up the old red-brick shopfront. “It is such a charming little shop and such an asset to the town. The current service area will be renovated in keeping with the heritage of the building.
“I want to make it beautiful and am grateful to the council for their support in making sure the bakery continues with as little interruption as possible.”
Rebecca is also working out ways to ensure the shop is carbon neutral and is hoping to work with local organisations to introduce a carbon offset program.
At this stage, Rebecca is hoping to have the renovations completed before this year’s Folk Festival and plans to reopen by mid-October.
This article appeared in the Tarrangower Times, 9 September 2022.
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