Kentish Oast Houses.

LARGE

Kentish Oast Houses near Ightham Mote, Ightham, Kent.

An oast, oast house or hop kiln is a building designed for kilning (drying) hops as part of the brewing process. They can be found in most hop-growing (and former hop-growing) areas.. Many redundant oasts have been converted into houses - like those in the photograph.

They consist of two or three storeys on which the hops were spread out to be dried by hot air from a wood or charcoal-fired kiln at the bottom. The drying floors were thin and perforated to permit the heat to pass through and escape through a cowl in the roof which turned with the wind.