Hopper hut

A hopper hut was a form of temporary accommodation provided for hop-pickers on English farms in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Before the days of mechanised farming, hop picking was a labour-intensive process, requiring a vastly greater number of people than were available locally.

An estimated 250,000 hop pickers from London were travelling to Kent by the early twentieth century [citation needed].

Accommodation in the early Victorian period would be in barns, stables, cattle sheds, pigsties, tents or the roof space of buildings.

Also during the 1860s, the Rev J J Kendon, visiting Goudhurst, was appalled at the plight of the hop pickers and began campaigning for improvements.

In 1910, Father Wilson bought the Rose and Crown public house in Five Oak Green and turned the building into the Hoppers' Hospital which provided free medical care for hop pickers as well as social activities including singing, dancing and film shows as an alternative to drinking in local pubs.

This Hoppers Hospital was in operation for over 60 years and the historic grade II listed[8] building is still owned by the Stepney-based charity founded at Wilson's church, the Red House and used for holidays by groups from East London.

Early huts were of timber, and during the latter half of the 19th century corrugated iron sheets were used to clad them.

Water would be via a standpipe which had to be within 150 yards (140 m) and sanitation provided by a dedicated toilet block, usually with an earth closet.

[1][2] George Orwell tried his hand at hop-picking at Blest's Farm, somewhere near West Malling,[16] in September 1931, travelling down from London disguised as a tramp.

A set of Hopper Huts from North Frith Farm, Hadlow, has been re-erected at the Museum of Kent Life, Sandling.

These were a row of six huts built of brick under a peg tiled roof, with integral fireplaces.