Seventeenth Century Living History Society
Bread Making
First of all, before making the bread, the corn had to be ground. Although many people had access to a miller for getting their corn ground or for buying flour it was still possible to see it being ground by hand, using quern stones. This is what you will see and have an opportunity to try for yourself, when you can imagine the time and energy it would have taken to make your 'daily bread'.
Then two types of loaves are made - firstly a rough brown one, which the poorer folk would have eaten and then a whiter one, known as 'manchet' which the more well off would have eaten. This was a way of saying 'we have enough money not to have to fill ourselves up on course bread, we can afford finely milled flour but also meats, fish, cheeses and sweetmeats' - in fact, a 17th century status symbol in the form of a loaf!! Then the bread is baked over a charcoal fire, the burnt base trimmed off and the 'upper crust' served to the Garrison with their lunch spread with freshly churned butter.