Staffordshire Oatcake History

Staffordshire Oatcakes, the original Potteries fast food! Dating back to at least the 18th century when the oatcake was the staple diet of the potteries folk. It is thought that during the long hard Winters, farmers grew Oats rather than wheat and and their wives would bake them on a bakestone for family and farm workers. At that time they wold possibly be eaten with lard, fat or cheese.

During the 19th Century a cottage industry sprang up, as many of the men and women were working at the potbanks making pottery, the older women would take over the baking of the Oatcakes, often making more than was needed and taking them in baskets to sell in the markets and streets.

Into the 20th Century, and the more successful bakers would have built brickrooms in their yards to bake the Oatcakes from. Their front rooms becoming the shop front, selling the Oatcakes through the sash windows.

The Staffordshire Oatcake went through a boom period, people lived locally, they shopped locally, they used the local public houses and the local Oatcake shop.

But by the late 1960's, people had more money, public transport improved and the car was available to more people. Supermarkets began to spring up, and suddenly people were given a huge selection of new and exotic foods to try.

Sadly this had an adverse affect on the humble Oatcake Shop and as bakers retired, less people were interested in taking on the Oatcake Shop from the previous generation and for 40 years there was a steady decline.

Fast forward to the present day however, and it seems there is an Oatcake revival! People are more interested in fresh produce, where their food comes from and understanding how it is made, and the interenet has now made Oatcakes and Oatcake Mixes available to all.