Lavender Bakehouse

our story

The Old Building - Its first use was as a grain store within
the Stroud Co-operative Society shop

In its past the Lavender Bakehouse had been a general Cooperative store. In those days you got your potatoes weighed on the scales and bought them by the pound, you even bought loose tea by the ounce and we still have the original cupboards to prove it and are still serving some of the original customers today with coffee and cake! Over the years the shop took on many guises from being a Cabinet maker to Florists and Gift shops.

Why start a coffee shop from scratch on the outskirts of a town with no customers, a venue in need of lots of TLC and in the middle of a recession to boot… When you go into the shop or you visit Chalford the answer is right in front of you. The area is fantastic, you just breathe it in and you feel good. Great walks along the old canal path and some of the most stunning areas of the Cotswolds to explore. Chalford and the surrounding areas have its own great community spirit. The shop was a pleasure to refurbish as it came to life with every new paint pot that was opened! And then there are the quirky bits, like the mural on the back wall or the sparkling chandeliers, oh and check out the wall outside the loos, one of our girls did the painting!. Upstairs the old Offices have been pulled down and revamped into a gift shop where you can treat yourself to a new scarve or buy a present for someone special. We have just opened a new gift shop which is the old grain store with lovely open beamed ceilings and lots of character where you can purchase that special gift.

The ethos of the café is very much about local food supplied by small producers; Bacon, Sausages and Ham are all supplied from a local supplier in one of the nearby villages who breed their own Pigs and produce what we and many of our customer,s think is the best they have tried! Our double Gloucester cheese comes from Godsells dairy . Our food is home cooked and our cakes and patisserie is baked fresh every day. We use many traditional recipes and come up with new and quirky recipes to ring the changes every day.

We offer a full menu from Breakfast, brunch, lunch to afternoon tea.

Come and try us out and let us know what you think