Millers Flat Bakehouse

Millers Flat Bakehouse Museum is a community-run historic site in the small Central Otago town of Millers Flat, right beside the Millers Flat bridge (visible as you cross from State Highway 8).

The building was constructed in 1908 by Louis Faigan, who had established the local general store in 1892.

It originally operated as a bakery and tearooms. Bread was baked in a traditional wood- and coal-fired brick oven. The business later passed to other bakers, including Nathaniel Campbell and Frank Vercoe. Commercial baking stopped in the 1950s when factory bread from Dunedin became readily available, and the building eventually fell into disuse.

In 1991 local residents, led by historian Betty Adams, formed a trust to save it. After nearly three decades of fundraising and restoration work, the bakehouse reopened in 2019 as a museum with a fully restored, working oven — believed to be one of the oldest functional traditional brick bakery ovens in New Zealand, and the only surviving wood- and coal-fired bakery of its type still in use.

Today volunteers staff the museum most days. Entry is free (donations welcome).

Visitors can view historical displays about the bakehouse, the town, and local life, plus local crafts for sale.

On the first Saturday of each month (and for some group bookings) bread is still baked the old-fashioned way in the original oven and sold fresh. Group tours can be arranged, sometimes including the chance to bake your own loaf.

The museum also holds memorabilia from the former Faigan’s Store nearby, preserving another piece of Millers Flat’s commercial history. It serves as both a heritage attraction and a community meeting place.