 In 1900 , antiquarian George Clinch investigated the Biddenden Maids in detail . Examining the costumes of the figures on the Biddenden cake moulds , he concluded that the style of dress depicted dated from the reign of Mary I ( 1553 – 1558 ) , a date roughly consistent with the " two hundred and fifty years ago " reported in 1775 , and concluded that the tradition had originated in the 16th century . He suggested that the " 1100 " date on Biddenden cakes had originally read " 1500 " , and explained the absence of names on prints of 18th century Biddenden cakes as an engraving error . It is likely that the cake moulds examined by Clinch were not the original moulds , as the designs Clinch examined are strikingly different to the earliest surviving drawings of Biddenden cakes , published in 1775 . Writing in the early 1930s , William <unk> Finch explains the confusion over the dates , saying " the old @-@ fashioned <unk> five is so frequently taken as a one " . He lamented the quality of the Biddenden cake then being produced , compared to that of former years . <unk> Finch stated that the villagers considered the then @-@ current cake to be <unk> bread . 
