The History of Devonshire Bakery
Devonshire Bakery Ltd. is a family run business which was started at the turn of the last century in Porter Street, Runcorn, by Fred Crowther, great grandfather of the present managing director. He was a farmer as well as baker. In those days the bread was delivered by a horse-drawn cart!
In 1928 the Edinburgh Arms was purchased in Devonshire Square, Runcorn, and was named the Devonshire Cafe. This eventually combined a shop, cafe, bakery and ballroom, the latter being the renowned local venue for ‘the Dev’ dances and wedding receptions. Fred’s two sons, Cyril and Reg, joined him in the business with Reg ultimately becoming the sole owner. In 1953 the second Reg (now retired) ran the business after completing his national service. The ballroom was closed not long after and the business became The Devonshire Bakery.
In the early seventies the Development Corporation put a compulsory purchase order on the premises to make way for a bus route through the Old Town and in November 1973 the business moved to Frodsham where it continues to be the Head Office, shop and main bakery site where all the production takes place. In the mid eighties a cake studio was added to the Frodsham shop and there are currently two additional shops at Weaverham and Runcorn.
Robert Crowther, the Managing Director and great grandson of the original owner now runs the business, along with his wife Jane, sister Kate, daughter Laura and niece Rebecca.
Devonshire Bakery
Five Generations of baking in North Cheshire have given us the knowledge and skills to create craft bakery products.
Our skilled bakers are up very early every morning to ensure our shops and wholesale customers receive freshly baked quality products.
We produce a wide selection of bread, made by traditional methods, bulk fermentation and sourdough are part of our everyday process. In addition to our weekly selection (white, wholemeal, multigrain, rye and French bread) we also produce speciality breads including sunflower and rye, ciabatta, fitty, spelt and low G.I. We are constantly developing new products in order to keep up with current trends and always welcome new ideas and comments from our customers.
Our savoury products include our famous hand raised beef and pork pies – delicious hot from the oven with a crisp golden crust. We also produce sausage rolls, Cornish rolls and vegetarian options. As well as our range of pies: steak, steak & blue cheese, meat & potato and chicken & mushroom. These are all baked fresh on a daily basis. A number of these products are available for home baking and may be purchased frozen and unbaked.
We offer a daily buffet delivery service, ideal for business lunches, meetings or office parties.
We can provide garnished platters of freshly made sandwiches and savoury products direct to your office. If it’s an office celebration, personalised cakes can easily be produced for you . Please ring for more information and pricing on this service.
If you are entertaining at home or just need quick, delicious, homemade food for your freezer. We have freezer stock of 1, 2 and 6 portion Meat/Vegetarian Lasagne, Moussaka and Hot Pot. For larger numbers of people we are able to produce the above in larger dishes suitable for the home oven or alternatively we may be able to deliver these hot to your event. Please give us a call or ask in one of our shops for more information.
