The highest quality artisan breads, bakes, and cakes made in the heart of Sussex.

Matthew Jewell is the Head Baker at the Bakehouse, overseeing the production of bread, pastries, and cakes for the Orangery and Ashburnham Place residential guests. With a 40-year career covering all aspects of baking, including setting up, running, and managing, Matthew has worked alongside bakers and chefs from leading bakeries and restaurants. He worked with the head Baker from the Dorchester London, the Poppy Seed Bakery and was the Head Baker at the prestigious Sussex Kitchen Bakery, where they won the overall category for sourdough at the World Bread Awards 2016, as well as seven Great Taste Awards for their bread.

 

Matthew’s journey into baking began at the age of 13 in 1983 when he started working for pocket money at the weekend in his grandmother’s bakery in Hove. His aunt was the Head Baker, so it was a real family-run business. A Jewish gentleman previously owned the bakery, so they inherited the local Jewish clients, which at that time was quite a large population in Hove. Matthew remembers the rabbi occasionally coming to make sure they were using kosher ingredients and to bless the place. Unfortunately, the business ceased trading. Matthew then worked for Forfars Bakers for 27 years, as well as taking a two-year bakery course in Brighton.

 

After this, he became the Head Baker at Busbys Artisan Bakery and Cafe in Worthing, then moved on to the Sussex Kitchen Bakery for seven years (featured in a Channel 4 program called “The Money Maker”). After spending 18 months managing the Poppy Seed Bakery in Eastbourne, he was delighted to be accepted as Head Baker at Ashburnham Place, the Bakehouse.