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


Background

Before the days of mechanised farming, hop picking was a labour-intensive process, requiring a vastly greater number of people than were available locally. Whole families (including children who could have been at school) from
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, particularly the south-east and east of London, would leave their homes and spend their time working in the Wealden hop-fields of
Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...
,
Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...
,
Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...
and
Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...
. By the 1870s, the South Eastern Railway and the
London Chatham and Dover Railway The London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR or LC&DR) was a railway company in south-eastern England. It was created on 1 August 1859, when the East Kent Railway was given parliamentary approval to change its name. Its lines ran through Lon ...
were running ''Hop Pickers' Specials'' to transport Londoners to the towns and villages at the start of the season. Similar trains were run to serve the pickers in Herefordshire and Worcestershire. An estimated 250,000 hop pickers from London were travelling to Kent by the early twentieth century . In Hampshire, some workers came from the
Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...
,
Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...
and
Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...
areas. Hopper huts were also provided in
Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...
and
Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...
. Workers in these two counties would come from the
Black Country The Black Country is an area of England's West Midlands. It is mainly urban, covering most of the Dudley and Sandwell metropolitan boroughs, with the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall and the City of Wolverhampton. The road between Wolverhampto ...
or
South Wales South Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the Historic counties of Wales, historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire ( ...
. The miners from South Wales remained at home and carried on working at their pits. Accommodation in the early Victorian period would be in barns, stables, cattle sheds, pigsties, tents or the roof space of buildings. This led to problems with
hygiene Hygiene is a set of practices performed to preserve health. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), "Hygiene refers to conditions and practices that help to maintain health and prevent the spread of diseases." Personal hygiene refer ...
and therefore health. An outbreak of
cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...
killed 43 hop-pickers at
East Farleigh East Farleigh is a village and civil parish in the local government district of Maidstone, Kent, England. The village is located on the south side of the River Medway about two miles (3.2 km) upstream from the town of Maidstone. Heritage Th ...
in September 1849.Hovels, huts & housesA Pocketful of HopsMuseum of London
/ref>Hopping down in Kent
George Orwell's account of conditions in September 1931
In 1865, the Rev J Y Stratton began a campaign to improve the conditions of the hop-pickers. Also during the 1860s, the Rev J J Kendon, visiting
Goudhurst Goudhurst is a village and civil parish in the borough of Tunbridge Wells in Kent, England. It lies in the Weald, around south of Maidstone, on the crossroads of the A262 and B2079. The parish consists of three wards: Goudhurst, Kilndown a ...
, was appalled at the plight of the hop pickers and began campaigning for improvements. This led to the formation of the ''Society for Employment and Improved Lodgings for Hop Pickers'' in 1866. The first bylaws covering hop-pickers' accommodation were adopted at
Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is southeast of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 88,000 as of 2023. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, charte ...
in Kent under the Sanitary Acts Amendment Act, 1874. Kendon made his headquarters at Curtisden Green and by 1889 had a team of over a dozen missionaries. In 1898, Father Richard Wilson, a priest from
Stepney Stepney is an area in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in the East End of London. Stepney is no longer officially defined, and is usually used to refer to a relatively small area. However, for much of its history the place name was applied to ...
, London, became curious as to what his parishioners did when they disappeared. He persuaded one family to take him with them. He too was appalled by the conditions the pickers had to live in, but would go with them each year, gradually gaining their trust. From 1897 he rented a cottage at
Five Oak Green Five Oak Green is a village near Tonbridge, Kent in the Civil Parish of Capel. The village was a centre for hop growing. In the 19th century, The Rose and Crown public house was converted to a hospital A hospital is a healthcare instit ...
for 2s.6d a week, furnishing it with cots and providing a nurse. Thus, the ''Little Hoppers Hospital'' was born. It was very busy that year, as there was an outbreak of
smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...
. A few years later, he was able to rent a larger cottage. By 1906 most of the districts of Kent had laws to similar effect, and many farms had hopper huts by 1914. In 1910, Father Wilson bought the Rose and Crown
public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...
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. The building bore the legend "E and H Kelsey's Fine Ales, Stout and Porter Sold Here" over three lines, to which Father Wilson simply added the word "not" before the last two words. This Hoppers Hospital was in operation for over 60 years and the historic grade II listed 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. The
Salvation Army The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestantism, Protestant Christian church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. It is aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. The organisation reports a worldwide m ...
also used to visit the hop pickers in the fields and attend to their welfare. There was also a Hoppers Hospital at Marden, which was not connected with the one at Five Oak Green.Hops & Hop PickingOld Days in the Kentish Hop Gardens


Construction

The standard size of a Hopper Hut was either by or by , though some were as large as by . Early huts were of timber, and during the latter half of the 19th century
corrugated iron Corrugated galvanised iron (CGI) or steel, colloquially corrugated iron (near universal), wriggly tin (taken from UK military slang), pailing (in Caribbean English), corrugated sheet metal (in North America), zinc (in Cyprus and Nigeria) or ...
sheets were used to clad them. Following the abolition of the
brick tax The brick tax was a property tax introduced in Great Britain in 1784, during the reign of King George III, to help pay for the wars in the American Colonies. Bricks were initially taxed at 2 s 6 d per thousand. The brick tax was eventually abol ...
in 1850, brick huts were built. Exterior walls were thick and partitions between individual huts 4½" (115mm) thick. During the 1930s and 1940s, some Hopper Huts were built of by breeze blocks, these being cheap and plentiful after the end of the war. A few huts were made from
pre-cast concrete Precast concrete is a construction product produced by casting concrete in a reusable mold or "form" which is then cured in a controlled environment, transported to the construction site and maneuvered into place; examples include precast bea ...
at this time.
Nissen Huts A Nissen hut is a prefabricated steel structure originally for military use, especially as barracks, made from a 210° portion of a cylindrical skin of corrugated iron. It was designed during the First World War by the Canadian-American-British e ...
were also used as accommodation for hop-pickers. The huts generally had an earth floor, and were lit by either candles or paraffin lamps. Water would be via a standpipe which had to be within and
sanitation Sanitation refers to public health conditions related to clean drinking water and treatment and disposal of human excreta and sewage. Preventing human contact with feces is part of sanitation, as is hand washing with soap. Sanitation systems ...
provided by a dedicated toilet block, usually with an earth closet. There would generally be a dedicated cookhouse which the hop-pickers would use to prepare their meals. It was generally discouraged by the farmers for the pickers to have fires in their huts. A few brick built huts were provided with custom built fireplaces and chimneys. The interior of the huts was generally
limewash Whitewash, calcimine, kalsomine, calsomine, asbestis or lime paint is a type of paint made from slaked lime (calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)2) or chalk (calcium carbonate, CaCO3), sometimes known as "whiting". Various other additives are sometimes us ...
ed or distempered. The furniture within the huts was provided by the pickers. Only very basic bedding was provided - hay and ferns,
faggots ''Faggot'', often shortened to ''fag'', is a slur in the English language that was used to refer to gay men but its meaning has expanded to other members of the queer community. In American youth culture around the turn of the 21st century, ...
and
straw Straw is an agricultural byproduct consisting of the dry wikt:stalk, stalks of cereal plants after the grain and chaff have been removed. It makes up about half of the crop yield, yield by weight of cereal crops such as barley, oats, rice, ry ...
, then faggots and a
palliasse A tick mattress, bed tick or tick is a large bag made of strong, stiff, tightly-woven material ( ticking). This is then filled to make a mattress, with material such as straw, chaff, horsehair, coarse wool or down feathers,Dictionnaire de l'a ...
. Some pickers built themselves basic beds of scrap timber with a palliasse. In the late 1940s and 1950s ex-army steel frame beds were used.


George Orwell

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to a ...
tried his hand at hop-picking at Blest's Farm, somewhere near
West Malling West Malling ( , historically Town Malling) is a market town in the Tonbridge and Malling district of Kent, England. It has a population of 2,590. Landmarks West Malling contains several historic buildings, including St Leonard's Tower, West ...
, in September 1931, travelling down from London disguised as a
tramp A tramp is a long-term homeless person who travels from place to place as a vagrant, traditionally walking all year round. Etymology Tramp is derived from a Middle English verb meaning to "walk with heavy footsteps" (''cf.'' modern English '' ...
. He spent his time living in a Hopper Hut made of tin (corrugated iron), thus discovering that fruit and hop picking was not quite the idyllic life described by many scholars and writers of the time. Orwell earned 9/- in a week, and observed that a family of gypsies who had picked every year since birth earned 14/- each. His account was published in ''
A Clergyman's Daughter ''A Clergyman's Daughter'' is a 1935 novel by English author George Orwell. It tells the story of Dorothy Hare, the titular clergyman's daughter, whose life is turned upside down when she suffers an attack of amnesia. It is Orwell's most formall ...
'' in 1935.Derek Bright
/ref>


Survival, conversion, preservation and re-creation

By the late 1950s, hop-picking was becoming an increasingly mechanised process. This, plus the improvements in sanitation at home, led to a decline in the need for Hopper Huts. The vast majority of huts today are no more. A few survive derelict or converted to residential or other use. Hopper Huts can still be seen today at Grange Farm,
Tonbridge Tonbridge ( ) (historic spelling ''Tunbridge'') is a market town in Kent, England, on the River Medway, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells, south west of Maidstone and south east of London. In the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Mall ...
and Downs Farm,
Yalding Yalding is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Maidstone in Kent, England. The village is situated south west of Maidstone at a point where the Rivers Teise and Beult join the River Medway. At the 2001 census, the parish, which inclu ...
. A set of Hopper Huts from North Frith Farm,
Hadlow Hadlow is a village and civil parish in the borough of Tonbridge and Malling in Kent, England. It is situated in the Medway valley, north-east of Tonbridge and south-west of Maidstone. The Saxon name for the settlement was Haeselholte (in t ...
, has been re-erected at the
Museum of Kent Life Kent Life (formerly the Museum of Kent Life and Kent Life Heritage Farm Park) is a farm park located at Sandling near Maidstone, next to Allington Locks on the east bank of the River Medway. It once operated as an open-air museum, before reb ...
, Sandling. These were a row of six huts built of brick under a peg tiled roof, with integral fireplaces.


References


Sources

* * * *


Further reading

Oasts * * Hop picking * * * *


External links


Eastry
account of the arrival of the hop-pickers.

Hop Gardens,
Oast An oast, oast house (or oasthouse) or hop kiln is a building designed for kilning (drying) hops as part of the brewing process. Oast houses can be found in most hop-growing (and former hop-growing) areas, and are often good examples of agricultu ...
Houses & Farming, Hopper Huts illustrated.
Hop Picking Photographs , Spitalfields Life
hop picking photos and account. {{Architecture of England Huts History of agriculture in England Architecture in England Vernacular architecture 19th century in England 20th century in England Agricultural buildings Humulus Company housing