Burrows Bakery, which overlooked the village green in Broadway (now home to John Noott Galleries), was started by Wilfrid Burrows (1876-1958) in 1904.
Born in Broadway in 1876, Wilfrid was the eldest son of Michael Burrows, a carpenter and his wife Emma (née Malin), a gloveress. Wilfrid and his three younger brothers; Arthur, Hubert and Edgar were brought up in the village (the family lived along Matches Alley), and Wilfrid and his brothers attended school in Broadway. By 14 years of age, Wilfrid had left school and was apprenticed as a baker. Although Wilfrid’s father was not a baker, the wider family had been bakers in the village and millers at Lower Mill for many years.
Wilfrid married Emily Benfield (1873-1947) from nearby Chipping Campden in 1900 and they moved to Leamington Road next door to Colin Farm. Shortly after their marriage, Wilfrid and Emily opened their own bakehouse, Springfield Bakery, along Springfield Lane.
Wilfrid opened his bakery on the village green in 1904 where he was assisted by his wife and family. His daughter Constance (born in Broadway in 1902) helped in the shop which later expanded to sell groceries, and his son Reginald (born in 1907) in the bakehouse. Burrows’s delivery handcart and horse and cart were a common sight in the village and in 1908 Wilfrid further expanded the bakery when he purchased an old established Broadway bakery run by Mr Jones (of Barn House, High Street, Broadway) and combined the two. By 1911 William Harris, who had moved to Broadway from Chipping Campden, helped in the bakehouse, later joined by Harry Walker.
When Wilfrid retired, his son Reginald took over the family business and was joined in 1941 by Edmund Frank Andrews. Edmund, known as Frank, took over running the business in 1957 and Reginald sold the bakery to Frank and his wife, Lillian, in 1958. In 1963 Frank and Lillian moved Springfield Bakery to the Leamington Road where it remained until they retired in May 1979.
Debbie Williamson
Broadway History Society