Gruffydd ap Hugo - The Village Baker

The life of a Baker

The village baker is often seen as a man of contradictions. He can sometimes be hated as being part of the great system of monopoly's around which village life revolves.

For instance only he, having paid the lord of the manor for the right, can bake bread. It is even against the law for the villagers to make their own bread or to own a quern stone to grind their own flour!

However, a baker like Gruffydd who bakes an honest loaf and does not cheat the villagers by filling it with straw or sawdust is a boon to any community

Gruffydd's story...

Gruffydd ap Hugo son of Branwyn the leech, younger brother to mad Geoffrey the jongleur is the Village master baker.

Once apprenticed to a rope maker, in Newton Abott he returned home after the impish disappearance of mad Geoffrey who ran away to become a minstrel His father brought Gruffydd home to take Geoffrey’s place, and to learn his trade, his letters & numbers an important task for any businessman!

In the year of our lord 1333 his father was honoured by Lord de Caversham and was made master baker for the manor so at the age of twenty one after just becoming a journey man he found himself with a business and a family, his wife Eleanor and his son and apprentice Geoffrey

There has been a bakery run at Cosmeston by his family for many years. Once ovens were built the people even began bringing their roasts to be done. In the early years most of the goods produced went to feed the manor.

The business grew and by 1314 most people were buying his fathers bread. Then, in the year 1315 disaster struck; the first in a long line of bad winters coupled with short wet warm summers, lead to a series of failed harvests which start to push the price of wheat up from £0/19/3 ton. in 1314 to £4/14/4. in 1320 , this meant people ignored the manor laws and started to bake again to the families detriment.

To put a stop to this Gryffydds father reminded Lord de Caversham that he had in good faith paid this cost father 6 silver shillings a year for the monopoly on baking. This made it punishable by branding & fine if any one else was caught using an oven. Sir William branded a few villagers and this put a stop to their outrageous behaviour, now everyone comes to Gryffydd for their bread! And so they should!