Every loaf starts as wheat on Fallowmere Farm, is stone-ground two miles downstream at Coldbrook Mill, then proves for thirty-six unhurried hours before Nell slides it onto the hot stone at first light.
Doors open at 8, and the first loaves are still warm.
We’re a family farm that got a little carried away. In 2011 Nell Ashby came home from six years of baking in Brittany, rebuilt the collapsed bread oven in the old dairy, and asked her mum to grow the kind of wheat nobody grows any more. Fifteen harvests on, it’s still the same three steps.
three pairs of floury hands,
one loaf of bread
Ruth and Jem Ashby farm 140 acres on the chalk above Little Wenbury. Twelve of those are heritage wheat and rye: tall, wavy, stubborn varieties sown in autumn and cut in August, with wildflower margins left wide for the bees.
Ruth, who grows it
Tom Pellow keeps Coldbrook Mill turning two miles down the river. He grinds our grain slowly between a pair of 1790s French burr stones, so the flour stays cool and keeps its germ, its oils and every bit of its flavour.
Tom, who mills it
Nell lights the oven at 3am with ash and beech from our own hedgerows. Doughs are mixed the afternoon before, rested overnight in the cool of the old dairy, shaped by hand and baked straight on the stone floor.
Nell, who bakes it
Nell chalks it up as each batch comes out of the oven. When it’s gone, it’s gone, but there’s always something warm until about two.
Want one held back? Ring 01632 555 018 before 10am.
Thursday 15 OctoberChalked up at 7:42am by Nell · first come, first served
36-hour proved, blistered crust, 800g
plentyOur own wheat, east-meadow honey, 750g
going fastDense, tangy, keeps for a week, 1kg tin
sold outSunflower, linseed & pumpkin, 700g
plentyHalf slab, dimpled and drowned in oil
going fastCrackly, open crumb, out at 11am
sold outLaminated, twisted, glazed with pearl sugar
plentyOrchard Bramleys, spelt pastry, per slice
going fastChewy middles, crisp edges, bag of six
plentyButter, honey, oats and nothing else
sold outMature farmhouse cheddar, warm till noon
plentyKitchen-garden leeks, rough puff, crimped by hand
going fastCharred, blistered, rapeseed oil & flaky salt
plentyFallowmere pork, sage, a smear of chutney
sold outSome loaves are baked every day; others only turn up once a week, when the oven, the flour and the baker are all in the right mood. Here’s roughly what to expect.
Order by 4pm the day before and we’ll set your bread aside on the collection shelf, wrapped in paper with your name pencilled on it. You pay when you collect.
CollectChoose a day on the left
Alongside the bread you’ll find whatever the farm is producing that week. Prices are per item, and the honesty box by the eggs stays open even when we don’t.
Laid by the hens behind the barn. Some days a few of them are blue.
Raw and unfiltered, from six hives on the east meadow margins.
Churned on Wednesdays from neighbour’s Jersey cream, flecked with sea salt.
Our Rivet wholemeal, milled at Coldbrook. Exactly what Nell bakes with.
Bramley and Discovery from the old orchard, pressed in September.
Hedgerow damsons, boiled down in small batches with not much sugar.
Whatever the kitchen garden’s giving. This week: leeks, carrots, beetroot and a savoy.
A nutty, natural-rind cheese, aged six months in the cellar under the shop.
Honesty box open 7am till dusk, every day of the year.
Small groups (never more than eight) around the big oak table where Nell shapes the morning’s dough. Aprons, tea, lunch from the wood-fired oven, and a bag of everything you’ve baked to take home.
aprons, tea & lunch included!
9:30am – 2:30pm · beginners welcome
Feeding a starter, mixing, folding, shaping and scoring. You’ll go home with two loaves and a jar of Martha, our fifteen-year-old starter.
6pm – 9pm · supper included
Stretching dough, managing a live fire and timing a ninety-second pizza. Supper is whatever you manage to bake, so bake well.
10am – midday · grown-ups stay for tea
Rolls, plaits and hedgehog buns for small bakers, with plenty of flour on the floor. Every child takes home a mini loaf tin.
9:30am – 3pm · bring a big tin
Stollen, cardamom wreaths and a proper brioche, with a mulled apple juice break by the oven. Wildly popular, every single year.
Makes one round loaf, about eight thick slices.
Nell’s tip: drink the rest of the cider while it bakes.
Follow your nose down Fallowmere Lane. If you reach the duck pond you’ve gone too far, but say hello to the ducks anyway.
| Monday | Closed |
|---|---|
| Tuesday | 8am – 4pm |
| Wednesday | 8am – 4pm |
| Thursday | 8am – 4pm · pizza 5–8pm |
| Friday | 8am – 4pm |
| Saturday | 7am – 3pm |
| Sunday | 8am – 1pm |
Park in the yard by the red barn, where there’s room for twelve cars and a rail for bikes. The No. 42 bus stops at Wenbury Green, five minutes’ walk along the field path.
From: Hearth & Field, The Old Dairy, Little Wenbury
What’s coming out of the oven, what’s growing in the field, a seasonal recipe card, and first dibs on class places before they’re chalked up by the till.