Books
(The need to publish the research report in honour of the late Arthur Harrison and the information from the Annual General Meeting have meant that, regrettably, many of the book reviews have been held over to the next issue. Eds).
Kentish Oasts, 16th - 20th Century, Their History, Construction and Equipment by Robin & Ivan Walton. (1998) ISBN 0-9506977-?X. Available from the publishers Christine Swift. £19.50 plus £2.50 postage & packing.
The oast houses of Kent for me provide both fascination and charm. Fascination in that there appears to be endless varieties and charm because their striking character adds to the rich tapestry of this part of the country. The book, 230 pages, clothbound hardback 250 mm x 175 mm has a marvellous full colour laminated dust jacket showing fourteen different types of oasts. It also includes 134 black and white photographs and 46 drawings, maps and diagrams.
The book, which is the result of twenty years research will provide interest to anyone who has ever been hop picking, grown hops, now lives in a converted oast or like me enjoys a glass of beer. I looked at the O.E.D. to see whether I should be talking about beer or ale and found the following rather amusing entry, "Ale and beer seem originally to have been synonymous. The Alvismal says '61 heitir me6 monnum, en me6 Asum bj6rr,' it is called 'ale' among men, and among the gods 'beer.' After the introduction into England of 'the wicked weed called hops' (Return to Edw. VI's Parlt.) c 1524, 'beer' was commonly hopped; at present 'beer' is in the trade the generic name for all malt liquors, 'ale' being specifically applied to the paler coloured kinds, the malt for which has not been roasted or burnt; but the popular application of the two words varies in different localities'.
The reader is treated to every delight in the construction of the oasts from the earliest printed plans so far located in 1574, varieties of different building materials, timber work, cowl designs and many more fascinating items. The machinery and equipment used, both old and modern, is discussed and explained. When Robin Walton published his first book on the Oast houses in Kent in 1985 production of hops had declined during the previous hundred year period from over 46,000 acres to just a few thousand acres. The decline has continued so that at this time there are only about 3,000 acres of hops under cultivation in Kent with 72 working oasts. Many more have been converted to other uses, some, as the illustrations show, to attractive dwellings. The book provides for many oasts, some sadly now lost, detailed descriptions. The cover illustration and p. 101 shows an early black and white photograph of an oast at Meopham converted in 1903 incorporating a total of thirteen windows, of which ten were dormers or partial dormers, built into the roundel roof.
This stimulating and beautifully illustrated book will I am sure be of interest to many and I would urge you to purchase a copy and discover more about these buildings dotted around the county. For visitors to our county here is an explanation of these strange buildings and for those with friends abroad perhaps an unusual gift that reflects part of the character of the county of Kent.
Robert Hiscock, Gravesend and Northfleet Revisited, (1998), 126 pages, card covers. ISBN 0-7509-1765-2 £9.99.
It is perhaps indicative of the interest in the changing pattern of this community that it has been possible to produce three marvellous photographic volumes recording aspects of the past now almost lost and forgotten. This is the third volume for the area in the series of 'Britain in Old Photographs'. In 1988 Robert Hiscock compiled a Gravesend in Old Photographs and in 1990 Around Gravesham in Old Photographs both published by Sutton Publishing; they are now sadly out of print.
Many will already be familiar with our Vice-President and know of his life-long residence and interest in the history and archaeology of the area. The author has been able to record for the reader detailed captions to the views, some of which it would appear are unique. These images show the many changes experienced by this once tiny community over the last two hundred interesting and years and evoke much long-forgotten altered region of memories Kent.
In the Faversham Town Book a series of accounts for 16th century record the cost of travelling by horse from Faversham to Gravesend and then on by boat to London. I was particularly interested to read in this volume that, "Travel by road was difficult and the long ferry between Billingsgate, London and Gravesend provided both an easier route for travellers and employment for men of the town. Their rights to carry passengers from Gravesend to London were conferred on 'the men of the town' by Royal Charters, the earliest of which dates from 1401 and which referred to the rights as 'having subsisted from the time whereof the memory of man is not to the contrary! The ferry was at first a tide barge ... sailing boats with a 'tilt' or awning were introduced in the sixteenth century .. . " I would recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in Gravesham and to the changing face of Kent communities; there will be hours of pleasure pouring over these photographs.
A Duncan Harrington