Former Hop Kiln At Kiln Side Farm

This is a late 19th-century hop kiln, extended subsequently. The building is constructed of pebble-dashed brick with brick dressings, tile hanging, and has a roof of plain tiles, concrete tiles, and some corrugated iron sheeting, incorporating crested ridge tiles. It has two storeys.

The kiln range is located to the north-east, comprising two bays originally, with a further two bays added later. Behind this is the drying-floor range, originally consisting of three gabled bays, with two bays added to the right. Windows are 2-light, small-pane casements with brick sills and tile pentices; doors and hatches are boarded.

The kiln range has an opening in the ground floor of each bay; the left bay has a window and the first floor has a hatch, both accessible via a replacement concrete verandah with steps and a pent roof, featuring a half-hipped roof with a ridge louvre to each bay. The right return features a kiln range gable with brick bands and surrounds to segmental-arched openings, mostly blocked, although a hatch is present on the ground floor’s left side, and an inserted door on the right. A slit vent and notched bargeboards are also present on the gable. To the right, the return elevation of the drying range comprises four bays with brick bays containing a door on each floor to the left bay, and three open bays with timber posts on the ground floor, with tile hanging and a window to each bay on the first floor.

The rear elevation of the drying-floor range has three solid-walled left-hand bays with a centre door flanked by windows. Bays 4, 5 and 6 are set back and of open-brick construction. The first floor has a window in each bay, with notched bargeboards to each gable. The left return features two projecting gabled bays, with the first floor at ground level due to the hillside, a door to the left of centre, and a 3-light window to each gable.

Internally, the kiln range’s ground floor has a brick floor (fire boxes have been removed). On the first floor, each bay is separate, with a slatted floor, plastered walls, and a cone directing air up to a louvre, which has a fan in the base. The first-floor drying range features square timber posts supporting queen strut roof trusses with central iron pins; walls are lined with beaded boards and the floors have trap doors from which sacks (hop pockets) would have been suspended for the dried hops to be shovelled into. Rollers (manufactured by T. Etherington of Hants) with hessian nets are positioned along the side of the kiln range, fed through a slit in the kiln wall and spread across the slatted floor; a hatch is provided to each kiln. The hop kiln was owned by the Bide family and was in operation until 1970. At the time of inspection, the building was in a state of disrepair.