Naturally-leavened bread, slow-fermented, baked the morning we sell it.
The Birch is a small artisan bakery on Walcot Street in Bath. We bake naturally-leavened sourdoughs, French-style viennoiserie, and a small range of seasonal pastries — all from scratch, all in-house.
We mill our own grain on a stone mill three days a week, ferment our doughs for 18-36 hours, and bake everything fresh. There's no day-old bread on our shelves. When it's gone, it's gone.
Today's bake.
Bread, pastry, and a bit of chocolate.
Open Tuesday-Sunday from 8am. Wholesale orders welcome with 48hrs notice.
Sourdough
Country loaf, seeded, walnut-raisin, rye-caraway. Stone-milled grain, 24+ hour ferment.
Viennoiserie
Croissants, pain au chocolat, kouign-amann. Made fresh daily, never reheated.
Pastries
Seasonal — almond financiers, pear & frangipane tarts, Bakewell, lemon polenta cake.
Wholesale
Local restaurants, hotels and cafes. 48-hour notice for bread orders.
Bread Subscription
Weekly sourdough delivery within Bath BA1-BA2. £8/week, four loaves.
Bread Classes
Monthly home sourdough classes. £85, includes a starter to take home.
Three things we do differently.
Stone-milled flour
We mill organic grain on our own stone mill three days a week — never bagged white flour.
Long ferment
Every loaf is fermented 18-36 hours. It's why our bread keeps for a week and digests easily.
Hand-shaped
Every loaf shaped by hand, scored by hand, baked in cast-iron Dutch ovens. No production line.
“The Birch makes the best sourdough between London and Bristol. The pastries are even better. Worth the trip from anywhere in the South West.”