The Old Bakery, Manor Mill & Forge is a collection of buildings in Branscombe

Branscombe, Devon

Branscombe is a village in the East Devon district of the English county of Devon.The parish covers 13.92 square kilometres . Its permanent population in 2009 was estimated at 513 by the Family Health Services Authority...

, Seaton

Seaton, Devon

Seaton is a seaside town in East Devon on the south coast of England. It faces onto Lyme Bay, to the west of the mouth of the River Axe with red cliffs to one side and white cliffs on the other. Axmouth and Beer are nearby...

, Devon

Devon

Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. The property has been in the ownership of the National Trust

National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty

The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...

 since 1965.

The property consists of three buildings: a bakery

Bakery

A bakery is an establishment which produces and sells flour-based food baked in an oven such as bread, cakes, pastries and pies. Some retail bakeries are also cafés, serving coffee and tea to customers who wish to consume the baked goods on the premises.-See also:*Baker*Cake...

, a watermill

Watermill

A watermill is a structure that uses a water wheel or turbine to drive a mechanical process such as flour, lumber or textile production, or metal shaping .- History :...

 and a forge

Forge

A forge is a hearth used for forging. The term "forge" can also refer to the workplace of a smith or a blacksmith, although the term smithy is then more commonly used.The basic smithy contains a forge, also known as a hearth, for heating metals...

.

The Old Bakery is a stone-built and partially rendered thatch

Thatching

Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge , rushes, or heather, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. It is a very old roofing method and has been used in both tropical and temperate climates...

ed building. It was the last traditional working bakery in the county when it closed its doors in 1987. The old baking equipment has been preserved in the baking room and the rest of the building now serves as a tea room.

The water-powered Manor Mill probably supplied the flour for the bakery. The mill has recently been restored and is now in full working order.

The Forge is the only thatched forge surviving in England. The blacksmith

Blacksmith

A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...

 sells the ironwork

Ironwork

Ironwork is any weapon, artwork, utensil or architectural feature made of iron especially used for decoration. There are two main types of ironwork wrought iron and cast iron. While the use of iron dates as far back as 4000BC, it was the Hittites who first knew how to extract it and develop weapons...

he produces.

External links

• Branscombe – The Old Bakery, Manor Mill & Forge information at the National Trust