Don't know if you have noticed it or not, but part of the Bob & Kathy Bessette house is still standing. I decided I would stop and check things out and found Kathy home. Kathy tells me she has been told that this was an oven used to bake bread. In the photo below, that is the part that was in the old kitchen. The top part was the oven and the bottom part was where the wood fire was to heat the oven.
(http://www.vtgrandpa.com/photos/albums/forum_photos/dcp_8048_1.sized.jpg)
The hole seen on the right was apparently the clean-out to remove the ashes. Kathy admitted she was not completely sure how it worked, but said that she nor Bob's mother Rita had ever used it to bake bread. I told Kathy I planned to put it up on my forum. We might run across someone who has heard of such an oven and how they were used in the old days.
(http://www.vtgrandpa.com/photos/albums/forum_photos/dcp_8049.sized.jpg)