White Post Oast

The White Post Oast has a single roundel flanked by a two-storey barn on either side, and is depicted with this layout on the 1870 OS. map. The barn on the right is the original stowage; the other one was originally an ancillary single storey barn which has been converted to two storeys and joined to the roundel to provide extra living accommodation. The effect is far more pleasing from inside the courtyard than the view from the road suggests. The loading gantry can be seen on the extreme right of the stowage barn.

The name White Post, which appears clearly on the 1841 map but without any sign of an oast-house, is believed to be a twin of a similar name in Chiddingstone Hoath and may be derived literally from white posts erected to depict the extremities of parish boundaries. This theory is borne out by the location of both properties concerned.

The oast, which overlooks the site of the old Penshurst Aerodrome, took on a new lease of life when the airfield was no longer required to act as backup for planes coming from the continent that were unable to make the then London Airport at Croydon due to fog over the Sevenoaks Hills. The airfield was converted into a polo club and the oast together with Wickhurst and Moorden provided stable facilities for the polo horses. Some notable riders frequented the club including, allegedly, King George VIII. One wonders whether Mrs. Simpson stayed at the Little Brown Jug?

In the war, together with the farmhouse, it was commandeered by the Ministry of Works for accommodation for troops after which it was used as storage until its conversion in the late 60's.