I thought some of you might be interested in this historical tidbit. I visited Christopher Lloyd's garden at great Dixter in Kent today and onsite was an Oast House. There is also one at Sissinghurst but it is not possible to see the interior. This a the building used for drying hops. They date back to the 1500s but I believe this one is a couple hundred years more recent. The current property manager, Fergus, was kind enough to let me into the Oast, which has been restored inside.
I took pictures to illustrate my description. The building has multiple kilns that were coal fired and had cowls on top that were controlled by the wind, positioning them to prevent the wind from entering the chimney. Each kiln has a box below to build the coal fire in, the ventilation is set up to prevent smoke from rising to the hops but allows the heat to rise through slats that are covered by horsehair blankets which support hops up to two feet deep. The hops are turned as they dry and when dried are cooled and moved to the hop bag which hangs from the upper floor to the lower floor. On the upper floor is a press to compact the hops into the bag. However, when the bag is just starting to fill the press cannot reach so a person is dropped into the bag to compress it. The compressed bag apparently weighs on the order of several hundred pounds.
Apparently there are no Oast Houses in use in southern England an many have been converted to houses. They are very interesting and look like they might be fun to live in. There are also relatively few hops grown in the area.
I hope you found this interesting.
I took pictures to illustrate my description. The building has multiple kilns that were coal fired and had cowls on top that were controlled by the wind, positioning them to prevent the wind from entering the chimney. Each kiln has a box below to build the coal fire in, the ventilation is set up to prevent smoke from rising to the hops but allows the heat to rise through slats that are covered by horsehair blankets which support hops up to two feet deep. The hops are turned as they dry and when dried are cooled and moved to the hop bag which hangs from the upper floor to the lower floor. On the upper floor is a press to compact the hops into the bag. However, when the bag is just starting to fill the press cannot reach so a person is dropped into the bag to compress it. The compressed bag apparently weighs on the order of several hundred pounds.
Apparently there are no Oast Houses in use in southern England an many have been converted to houses. They are very interesting and look like they might be fun to live in. There are also relatively few hops grown in the area.
I hope you found this interesting.
