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The King's Bakery

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A bakery was established to supply soldiers with their fair rations of bread. It was apparent that the best location for the bakery would be as near to the soldiers as possible, so it was decided that since the soldier's barracks were situated in the King's Bastion, the bakery would be best located in the basement of this building.

In 1727, the bakers were complaining of a foot and a half of stagnant water that stood in the basement for half of the year. For this reason, a second bakery was proposed. Étienne Verrier (Chief Engineer) considered this bakery adequate, therefore no action was taken. In 1729, after a second proposal and a complaint to the Minister of the Marine, Verrier was ordered to draw up plans for a new bakery and to decide on a date for construction to begin on a new bakery.

The foundations were laid for the second bakery and the ovens were completed in 1732. One year later, a forge was created on the ground floor for the armoury. The armourers' forge was soon considered to be too small and in 1735 plans were made to build a new forge. Since this left the forge vacant, it was converted to lodgings for the bakers in 1749.

In 1750, a larger bakery was proposed to meet the needs of the increased garrison. The war seemed imminent so the proposition was refused. To help meet the demand of bread, two ovens were added to the old bakery. This turned out to be an immense fire hazard and on the night of September 29-30, 1756, the bakery caught fire and burned completely.

Recipes for 18th Century Food