TQ7036 : Oast Houses at Finchcocks Farm, Goudhurst, Kent
taken 17 years ago, near to Kilndown, Kent, England
An Oast House is a building used to dry fresh hops before they are sent to the brewers, to be used for flavouring beer. A traditional Oast House consists of the 'oast' and the 'stowage'. The oast was a kiln, with a plenum chamber fired by charcoal at ground floor and the drying floor directly above. The steep pitched roof channelled the hot air through the hops to the top. The stowage, was the barn section, it had a cooling floor and press at first floor and storage area at ground floor. Read more Link
Six square kiln oast house. The oast house was drying hops until 2009, and converted to a nine bedroom house in 2012 and offered as holiday accommodation.
The oast house was capable of drying up to 2 tons of hops per day.
The building featured on the Channel 4 program "Restoration Man" on 27th December 2012.