51/754

An oven peel was used for lifting bread and other foodstuffs in and out of a baker’s oven, which was usually very deep.
An oven peel was used for lifting bread and other foodstuffs in and out of a baker’s oven, which was usually very deep. They were in common use in most farmhouses during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. This peel is made of wood, with a square shaped shovel and a long round handle.

1 oven peel: metal (iron); good condition

MERL 'Catalogue index' card – 'Miss Smith gives no indication of the origin of this peel. It was used for inserting and withdrawing loaves from brick ovens, which were to be found in most farmhouses in the 18th and 19th centuries. // This peel is made of iron. It is made in the shape of a flat shovel with a long handle so that the user could reach right into the oven, without burning himself. The shovel part is almost square in shape, measuring 8 inches by 8.6 inches, with the corners sliced off. The handle is 2 feet 9 inches long, and ends in a round knob. It is round in shape, but flattens out into the neck of the shovel. // See also 51/261.', Lavinia Smith Catalogue (D60/28) - 'A list of the contents of the East Hendred museum. July 5 1940 // Heating and Cooking // 169-170. Three peels for taking out the bread. One is wood, one iron and one steel.' (The other two are likely to be 51/753 and 51/755), Lavinia Smith Catalogue (D60/28) - 'A list of the contents of the East Hendred museum. July 5 1940 // The Fire and Hearth // 9. peel for taking bread from an oven . . Farebrother' (This could also be in reference to 51/755 and 51/753. The oven peel appears to be recorded twice in Lavinia Smith's catalogue on two separate lists - one perhaps made at a later date?), Heritage of the Hendreds Exhibition 1969 - 'Catalogue of Exhibits // Number 59 // Oven Peel // Lent by Museum of English Rural Life' (The catalogue description could also refer to 51/755 and 51/753), Heritage of the Hendreds Exhibition 1969 - 'Catalogue of Exhibits // Number 60 // Oven Peel // Lent by Museum of English Rural Life' (The catalogue description could also refer to 51/755 and 51/753)

1700-01-01

Rippon, Miss Dorothy May Lyddon (Agent)
Fairbrother, Thomas