Page 181 - UNESCO_Zatec_2021_A4

Typical English low hop trellis, Kent, United Kingdom, 2007

UNITED KINGDOM segment of architectural and architectural heritage
HOP GROWING REGION IN KENT (12.) than in the nominated Žatec and the Landscape of
PADDOCK WOOD Saaz Hops property. No important trading centre,
The tradition of brewing beer is also historically including the complex historical development of 181
associated with the British Isles. The name for beer: "Ale" the hop industry and the centre of the hop trade
(originally without hops) comes from the Celtic peoples and a related concentration of drying kilns and
of Scandinavia. Hops as a crop for growing and the use of warehouses, similar to Žatec, has been preserved in
hops in beer came to England later, it was allegedly first England.
brought by Dutch colonists in the 15 century and began
th
to be cultivated in Kent from the 16 century. The main centre of the hop trade gradually became
th
London, where the most beer was also brewed. The
Specific larger buildings and areas for trade purposes were centre of the hop trade at the time was the East End.
not created at that time. During Britain’s industrial era, Because of its location on the banks of the Thames,
there was an unprecedented boom in beer production. it was well placed for transport to the markets and
Hop production spread to the more climate-friendly there were also large warehouses. Many of them were
counties in the south of England, especially in Kent and destroyed during the World War II.
Sussex. On the farmsteads of the English countryside,
scattered architecturally interesting hop drying kilns In any case, the processing and drying of hops in
(oast houses) of very specific shapes have been preserved England was always been based on smaller rural
to this day, grouped into larger groups on larger farms. farms, and London was the real centre of trade.
London was also a transport hub where seasonal
Probably the largest area with authentically preserved trains for hop pickers to rural Kent were organized.
hop drying kilns of this type is the complex at the former
farm of the Whitbread brewery, currently called The Hop From a typological point of view, in England these
Farm Family Park, near Tonbridge in Kent, about 60 km are significantly different buildings, both in terms of
from London. This large ensemble has been transformed those intended for drying hops and the organization
into an entertainment and relaxation centre with and centralization of international trade in this
a number of activities that are not primarily focused just commodity directly in the country’s capital city.
on hop growing.
In the south-east of England, Sussex, Suffolk and
In particular, however, these are architecturally and Surrey can also be identified as areas. Roughly another
technically different buildings, originally representing half of the hops are grown in the West Midlands in
a single production unit. This is a completely different Herefordshire and Worcestershire.