Weald - Oast Houses

Characteristic of this hop-growing area are the oast houses, brick buildings with white pointed roofs on whose floors hops used to be laid out to dry. Many of these oast houses have now been converted into desirable second homes. Other local building traditions were "tile hanging", scale-like wood and brick decoration of houses, and "weatherboarding", wooden slats, brightly painted or made weatherproof with a layer of pitch or tar, fixed to the exterior walls of buildings.