Wall Hills House, near Ledbury, Herefordshire, is a former farm. The house is Georgian and nearby outbuildings include a cruck-framed medieval barn and a circular
oast house. Both the barn and the oast house with its adjoining brick barns fell into disuse as farming changed, but it is good that they remain for us to see today. An oast house is a building designed for the drying of hops that are to be used in beer making. They can be square, oblong or circular and all have a characteristic pointed roof with a cowl. In Herefordshire, where hops are still grown in the Hereford-Ledbury-Bromyard triangle and the Teme Valley, oast houses are often called hop kilns. The oast house (or hop kiln) and attendant barns in the photograph haven't suffered the fate of many i.e. being turned into a desirable country residence.
photos © T. Boughen Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2
