Why should this building and the F. Metters & Co oven be preserved and protected from demolition?
This building displays historical, commercial and social themes of usage, as a bakery operated continuously on this site from 1908 until 1980. The building displays aesthetic merit and design characteristics of significance to the local area, in keeping with a commercial business enterprise.
When a fire destroyed the building in 1909, it did not stop baked goods being produced until a new building was constructed in 1910.
The F. Metters & Co. wood-fired oven is significant as it is an early representation of a commercial oven in good condition and working order. It is of scientific value as it can be researched to reveal information concerning the local baking industry, oven design and construction. This oven was recently used in this manner in an attempt to save another oven in Culcairn, but unfortunately the intricate brick internal construction could not be replicated and the Culcairn oven could not be repaired.
Metters was a brand of stoves, ovens and other cast iron objects, established in 1891 in Adelaide by Frederick Metters (1858-1937) who patented a number of kitchen appliances. His brothers, Charles and Henry Metters, founded Metters Bros in Melbourne. When production and distribution expanded to Perth in 1894 and Sydney in 1902 a partnership was formed with Henry Sprig. Sprig bought out his partner in 1907 and founded Metters Limited in 1908. Our example therefore must predate 1907, but more research is required.
If you look closely at Image 1 you will see the resting place for the peel above the oven. This type of oven was long inside, so the peel was used to retrieve baked good from all areas of the oven. A knowledgeable baker could bake a number of items at the same time. The oven hot spot was used for bread, pies in a slightly cooler spot and the sponges in the coolest spot of the oven.
Many local citizens tell me that the baked goods were sent out with the mail run in the early to mid-1900’s when ordered.
COMPARABLE ITEMS
The only known working oven of this type in NSW can be found at the Dorrigo bakery, but unfortunately, I do not have an image, so our example could be very rare.
Another Metters oven can be found at the Miller’s Bakehouse Museum, Freemantle, W.A. Although similar, the makers mark does not match the Walla Walla oven.