Dunn's Bakery

Dunn's Bakery is a bakery in Crouch End, north London, England, established as a bakery in 1850 and owned and operated by six generations of the Freeman family since 1946.[1] It has been described in food and travel press as one of the oldest bakeries in London.[2][3]

History

The Freeman family's baking history dates to 1820, when Robert Freeman moved from Brackley, Northamptonshire, to Highgate, north London, and found work as a baker. In 1827 he opened his own bakery on Highgate Hill.[1]

The premises on the Broadway in Crouch End that would become Dunn's Bakery was built as a bakery in 1850 and was originally run by the Dunn family until the 1920s.[1] The business was formally incorporated as Dunns (Crouch End) Limited on 22 June 1928, while still under Dunn family ownership.[4] In 1946, Robert Freeman's great-grandson David Freeman bought the business, bringing it into the Freeman family.[1]

David's son, Christopher Freeman, joined the business in 1973 after training at the National Bakery School, becoming the fifth generation of the family to work as a baker.[1] In 2017, Christopher stepped back from day-to-day involvement and passed leadership of the bakery to his son, Lewis Freeman, the sixth generation of the family to run the business.[1][5][6]

A second branch opened in Muswell Hill, north London, in 2020.[5][7]

Operations

As of the mid-2020s, Dunn's employs around 65 staff across its Crouch End and Muswell Hill sites, and also operates a wholesale arm.[5] The bakery produces bread, sourdough, cakes, pastries and savoury items. It also has a sandwich and catering counter.[5]

Media appearances

In 2016, Dunn's Bakery featured in the BBC Two documentary series Victorian Bakers, in which the bakery's Crouch End premises was used to represent a bakery of the year 1900, owing to its use of vintage gas-fired ovens still in operation at the time.[8] The bakery has also been reported to have appeared in the first series of ITV's Britain's Best Bakery (2012).[9]

In November 2018, Dunn's Bakery featured in Visa UK's first Christmas television advertising campaign, which spotlighted independent British high-street retailers. The advert aired during Coronation Street on ITV and showed nine shopkeepers, including Dunn's Bakery owner Christopher Freeman, lip-syncing to Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You".[10]

In 2020, a bus-shaped birthday cake made by Dunn's Bakery featured in the BBC America/BBC Three thriller series Killing Eve, sent by the character Villanelle (Jodie Comer) to Eve Polastri (Sandra Oh) in the episode "Still Got It" (series 3, episode 4).[11][12] Bakery owner Lewis Freeman said members of the show's production crew, who lived in Crouch End, had asked to feature the bakery.[12]

Community involvement

Dunn's Bakery is credited as the founder of National Doughnut Week, an annual UK-wide fundraising campaign for the children's charity The Children's Trust. The campaign was launched in 1991[13] or 1992[14][15] by Christopher Freeman, then co-owner of Dunn's Bakery, and has since grown to involve other food businesses across the UK.[16] As of October 2025, the campaign had raised over £1.18 million in total since its inception, including more than £672,000 donated directly to The Children's Trust.[16]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Dunn's Bakery, Crouch End". British Baker. 16 March 2018. Retrieved 2 July 2026.
  2. ↑ "Bakeries in London: Top 31 Spots in 2026". Cozymeal. Retrieved 2 July 2026.
  3. ↑ "The Best Restaurants Around Crouch End". The Infatuation. 24 February 2026. Retrieved 2 July 2026.
  4. ↑ "DUNNS (CROUCH END) LIMITED - Overview". Companies House, GOV.UK. Retrieved 2 July 2026.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Meet the Baker: Dunns". BAKO Group Limited. 23 April 2024. Retrieved 2 July 2026.
  6. ↑ Winskill, David (2017-08-22). "Fifth generation Crouch End baker serving loyal customers for decades to retire". Ham & High. Retrieved 2026-07-02.
  7. ↑ Boniface, Michael (2020-11-09). "Shop Local: Dunn's bakery Crouch End 'hyped' to open in Muswell Hill". Ham & High. Retrieved 2026-07-02.
  8. ↑ "Crouch End bakery stars in new BBC programme". Enfield Independent. 6 January 2016. Retrieved 2 July 2026.
  9. ↑ "Crouch End - Dunn's Bakery". Good Food Shops. 8 April 2016. Retrieved 2 July 2026.
  10. ↑ "Dunn's Bakery stars in Visa UK Christmas TV advert". British Baker. 9 November 2018. Retrieved 2 July 2026.
  11. ↑ "Killing Eve Season 3 Episode 4 Fashion Recap: Another Death in the Family". W Magazine. 4 May 2020. Retrieved 2 July 2026.
  12. 1 2 "London bakers give Cybake the thumbs up". Cybake. 21 September 2022. Retrieved 2 July 2026.
  13. ↑ North, Amy. "Dunn's Bakery, Crouch End". British Baker. Retrieved 2026-07-02.
  14. ↑ "A bakery in Crouch End". Tottenham, Wood Green Independent. 1998-02-13. p. 5. Retrieved 2026-07-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ "Go nuts to raise dough for charity". Tottenham, Wood Green Independent. 1999-02-19. p. 9. Retrieved 2026-07-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. 1 2 "National Doughnut Week 2025 Raises £40,000 for The Children's Trust". National Doughnut Week. 2 October 2025. Retrieved 2 July 2026.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.