89 High Street, Rye, East Sussex, TN31 7JN

The Rye Bakery is a combination of tea shop, patisserie and bakery right in the middle of the High Street in Rye. Glenn and Donna Croucher have owned the business since 1985. Donna takes responsibility for administration while Glenn is a master baker, who trained at the National Bakery School in London and who has been involved with baking in Rye since 1975. He has won gold and silver medals in Bakery Championships and is a prominent member of the National Association of Master Bakers.
The shop is at least 120 years old and they keep up a long tradition of bread making with their speciality Wealden Loaf, made with local organic ingredients. It is brown and crusty and made in the old-fashioned way without the use of high speed mixers. As well as the popular Wealden Loaf they produce a range of fresh crusty bread every day including wholemeal, granary and rye bread. Their confectionery choice includes chocolate brownies, muffins, iced buns, doughnuts and carrot cake. The tea shop, opened in 1999, is light, airy and brightly decorated and has proved a popular meeting place for visitors and locals alike. They serve light lunches, soup, filled baguettes, an excellent range of filled rolls and sandwiches, obviously using the freshly baked bread of the bakery. This is an excellent place to pick up a picnic, buying ready filled rolls to take away or fresh bread to combine with cheese and fruit, which always tastes even better out in the open countryside.

e-mail: hawthornsrye@hotmail.com 

Tel: 01797 222243 / 226522 Fax: 01797 227388