Wickhurst Oast

A remarkably comprehensive school project undertaken by the current (2007) owners’ 10-year old daughter, Miranda Thorne provides a refreshing story of the life of an oast in Leigh.

By reference to the same two maps, together with other evidence, Miranda concludes quite correctly that, like most of the other Leigh oasts, it was partially constructed (one roundel and a small barn) between 1841 and 1869 and the second roundel was added together with a new enlarged barn after 1870.

Hops ceased to be processed here soon after the war.

The conversion was undertaken in the early 1970s by a Mr. & Mrs. Draper who purchased the property for a mere £11,000. It is interesting to compare this with the £80,000 required to purchase the unconverted Paul’s Farm Oast in 1985 which, in turn, looks cheap by comparison to the £350,000 asked for the charred remains of the Moorden Oast a few years ago.

The hop press survived the conversion but sadly was discarded in 1980. With some sense of history, though, the Drapers arranged for a time capsule (a bottle containing secrets and facts about the Oast) to be visibly cemented into the ridge of the barn roof. One wonders how long before curiosity gets the better of the window cleaner?