51/502

Brick ovens for baking bread were a common feature in old farmhouses and better class cottages. The mouth of the oven was closed with a separate door made of wood or, later, sheet iron, and often with two handles which enabled it to be lifted completely away. This is a wooden oven door, made of oak, with two handles. Nothing is known of its origin.

1 brick-oven door: wood (oak); good condition

MERL 'Catalogue index' card – 'Brick ovens for baking bread were a common feature in old farmhouses and better class cottages. They showed on the exterior of the building as a semi-circular projection with a rounded top and its own roof. Inside the kitchen, the top of the oven was stepped back in brick work, and the inside of the oven was arched with a flat floor. The mouth of the oven was closed with a separate door of wood or sheet iron with two handles so that it could be moved right away. Wooden doors are earlier in date than iron ones. // This door is made of wood unevenly cut but of a general rectangle shape. It has two handles, and is made of oak. // The door measures 20 by 17 inches.', Lavinia Smith No. 165., Lavinia Smith Catalogue (D60/28) - 'A list of the contents of the East Hendred museum. July 5 1940 // Heating and Cooking // 165-167. Three wooden doors for these backovens used before iron doors were introduced. The oldest one came from a cottage which an architect said was 750 years old. One was made to slip to and fro. It has a hard deposit of soot on it.' (The other two are likely to be 51/503 and 51/501), Lavinia Smith Catalogue (D60/28) - 'A list of the contents of the East Hendred museum. July 5 1940 // The Fire and Hearth // 11. wooden door. Frank Stibbs. This door was made to slide to and fro apparently into the chimney as a great part of it was encrusted with hardened soot // 12. wooden door. Frank Stibbs.' (Either of the two entries in Smith's catalogue could be in reference to this particular oven door - the other is likely to be 51/503) (The two oven doors are recorded twice in Lavinia Smith's catalogue on two separate lists - perhaps one was compiled at a later date?), Heritage of the Hendreds Exhibition 1969 - 'Catalogue of Exhibits // Number 62 // Oven Door // Lent by Museum of English Rural Life' (The catalogue description could also refer to 51/503, 51/501 and 51/811)

Rippon, Miss Dorothy May Lyddon (Agent)
Stibbs, Frank