Christmas Travel: Does Devon Have The UK’s Most Historic Mince Pies?
Written by Jaillan Yehia
Munch on mince pies made with flour dating back to the Domesday Book
I travelled to Devon this December to discover the festive history behind the first Christmas card ever designed.
But while in the southerly English county, famous for its beautiful beaches and picture postcard villages, I discovered the area has another incredible – and edible – Christmassy claim to fame.
Devon’s Otterton Mill is the producer of mince pies made at the oldest recorded bakery on the planet, making these the world’s most historic mince pies…
We Brits love a mince pie at Christmas – we eat an average of 5 per person over the festive season, and collectively we’ll put away 370 million mince pies this Christmas. A certain Mr Kipling makes 180 million of these.
Historic mince pies ready for baking, at Otterton Mill
But at the very opposite end of the mince pie making scale are some unique and very special pies made at Devon’s Otterton Mill.
Delicious Devon = Delicious Mince Pies
This pretty cobblestoned cafe in the small village between Exmouth and Sidmouth, is perched on the River Otter – and the water mill here has been milling flour for over 1000 years.
Home of the country’s most historic mince pies
The onsite artisan bakery has the honour of being the oldest bakery in Britain and is listed as the 18th oldest business in the entire world, as well as the single oldest recorded business in the UK.
The Mill at Otterton
Historic flour to make historic mince pies
The mince pies here are made with traditional the wholemeal flour milled on site, and the production process itself is so popular the bakery produces a milling schedule so visitors can come and watch.
Baker Zac with one of the mill’s wholemeal loaves
So if you’re in the area, perhaps even staying at Orestone Manor, the home of the first Christmas card, and fancy a mince pie with a side order of history, why not come and try the world’s most historic mince pies.
The finished product
And in case you didn’t know, British Christmas foods like these historic mince pies as well as our Christmas trifles, are famous all over the world…
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