Welcome

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Jim Thompson, Bishop of Stepney in the 1980's, described Hoppers as an enchanted place.

The building has stood for 400 years among the hop gardens of Kent, in the village of Five Oak Green, near Tonbridge. Originally it was a row of farm cottages. It is now comfortably furnished to provide a self-catering haven for groups of up to 20 people, for use by charities operating mainly, but not exclusively, in East London.

Why not have a look around on line?
Go to www.hopperskent.org and click on the rooms

You can check for available dates on the Booking Schedule below
Then from the website/bookings you can send an e-mail to Keith, the Bookings Administrator requesting a date

If you enjoy history, browse in the Heritage notes below

Bookings Schedule

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A= Available; P=Provisional; D=Deposit paid; F=Fully paid

Dec 2011
A
F Fri 23rd - Thu 29th Holloway
A Fri 30th

Jan 2012
A Fri 6th
A Fri 13
A Fri 20
A Fri 27

Feb 2012
D Fri 3 - Sun 5 St Luke, Reigate
P Fri 10 - Sun 12 Paddock Wood
A Fri 17
A Fri 24

Mar 2012
A Fri 2
F Fri 9- Sun 11 SMM Academy
A Fri 16
D Sun 19 - Fri 23 Oasis
A Fri 23
A Fri 30

May

June
D Sun 10 - Wed 13 Oasis

July

Aug 2012
D Tue 14 - Sun 18 BHA

Sept 2012
F Thu 3 - Sun 6 Heritage Festival

Dec 2012
D Sun 23 - Thu 27 Holloway

Booking Proceedure

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Check the availability of the dates you require

Make a request by Email: hoppersbookings@gmail.com

Deposit [£100] is required within three days of making a reservation (non-returnable in the event of subsequent cancellation).

Balance should be sent three weeks prior to the start of the visit.

Cheques should be made payable to “Hoppers”
and sent to John Wilson, 54 King Henry's Walk, London N1 4NN

Bank details for electronic payments may be obtained from John
The reference should give the name of the group and date.

CHARGES [Effective 1st January 2012]

Weekend: £480 Friday after 5pm until Sunday 5pm.

Midweek: £160 per night between Sunday after 5pm until Friday 2pm.

Charities may request a discount

Charges for midweek bookings that do not involve an overnight stay are negotiable.

KEYS

Keys may be collected in London (Islington) or Five Oak Green (Kent)
Please ring in advance to make arrangements

John Wilson 07981 060 528 - London
Susannah Strawson 0189 283 3544 - Kent

Heritage

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Ownership of 'Hoppers' in Five Oak Green can be traced back to about 1600 when it was owned by Thomas Bennett of East Peckham and his wife Frances.

"The main house is timber-framed but the ground floor level is under built with painted 19th century brick. The 2 larger central rooms were heated by a chimney stack between them with back-to-back fireplaces. A stair rises from each of the centre rooms in front of the stack. Smaller end rooms were each heated by a projecting end stack. Centre stack and stairs are 17th century but the end stacks were added in the 19th century. Although the main block is 17th century, evidence from the roof suggests that it was built in more than one phase, the left (west) half before the right half." [www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk./Kent/Capel/Hoppers Hospital]

For many years people have been asking that the history of the building, its inhabitants and their activities be written up. The need was brought home when we advertised Hoppers on the heritage open days website and learnt much from the knowledge of those who visited. [Sept 2011]
The reason for posting the history here is to make it available to anyone considering using Hoppers.
An e-mail list has been created for those who are interested in being advised when additions are made. The intention is to send a circular at least every 3 months indicating the changes.

With four hundred years to cover the knowledge of some periods is very limited. The available information has been arranged into five periods.

1600-1850 Farm Cottages
Thomas Bennett sold the premises to Robert Kipping of Tudeley, who left them to his son Robert Kipping of Frittenden. He died 1691 leaving them to his wife Elizabeth for life and then to Thomas & John Everis, the sons of her brother Good Everis. One messuage was in the occupation of Goodman Larkin.
Thomas Everis, a husbandman of Tenderton, sold to Richard Woodin, a yeoman of Tudeley in 1737.
The property stayed in the Woodin family until William Collins, a yeoman of Tudeley, bought it in 1800.
William Collins died 1814 leaving the premises to his son William (described as a labourer of Capel). He sold it in 1819 to Mrs Elizabeth Larkin, who sold in 1824 to Edward Monkton.

The company has a bundle of documents relating to the changes of ownership through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Information from these will gradually be integrated.

1850-1910 The Rose & Crown Beer House
The Beer Act of 1830 made provision for licenses to be obtained for 2 guineas
John Bowles acquired the premises in 1855 to start the beer House. He raised a mortgage from John Waite in 1858 to finance the extensive works that were undertaken.
A survey for The Listed buildings in 1990, quoted above, suggests that the end chimney stacks were added in the 19th Century. A look at the brickwork confirms this. The rear extension, under the 'catslip' roof is of the same brickwork and was used as the bowling alley.
John Bowles sold to Edward & Henry Kelsey in 1876. The site plan indicates that it contained a beer house at that time. [Interestingly 1878 was the peak year for Hops when 71,789 acres were in cultivation and Capel was the centre of the Kent hop industry.] The Kelsey's partnership had started in 1855. They owned the Culverden Brewery in Tunbridge Wells, and spent 40 years acquiring local pubs, one of which was the Rose & Crown. by the time Henry retired in 1895 they owned over 100. [http://anke.blogs.com/anke/2010/05/tunbridge-wells-brewery.html] contains pictures of the Kelsey's vehicles that would have trundled around Five Oak Green. Edward Kelsy died in 1903 leaving the brewery to his son Arthur, who ran it until taken over by Flowers in 1948. Edward left the Rose and Crown to his sons and Adelaide Tolhurst wife of William Tolhurst of Moat farm. The sons sold out to Adelaide who, after the pub was closed at Christmas 1909 under the Licensing Compensation Act, leased the premises for a year and then sold it to Richard Wilson. He was lovingly referred to by his family as Uncle Dick; the people of Stepney called him Father Richard and the press dubbed him The Hoppers Parson.

1910-1960 The Little Hoppers Hospital
The Kent & Sussex Courier dated 4th June 1910 reported "the premises have been acquired by Richard Wilson, Vicar of St Augustine's Stepney, for the purpose of a temporary hospital for the benefit of hoppers during the picking season. The premises had been put in to thorough repair. A new ward had been built and other improvements made. During the hopping season trained nurses will be in residence day and night."
'Pull no more Poles' was published by JGW Farley in 1962 to tell the story of the Hopping Missions. He was involved from 1906 and eventually became chairman of The Red House. The book is no longer in print but there is a photo copy at Hoppers and another can be lend to serious students.
[extracts will be added to this space]
The construction of the front courtyard as a war memorial came about because Charles Saunders, who was killed in WW I left money to the Mission. The building, opened in Sept 1925, was designed by an Architect Mr Hake "the whole courtyard was paved with bricks and a loggia built on three of its sides, including an entrance from the road.The roofs were tiled to match that of the old building. The brick pillars were painted white. Its arcades had a severely practical purpose of affording shelter in bad weather. In one of these was an open fireplace so comforting on cold winter evenings." [PNMP page 48]
The Memorial building was added after the death of Richard Wilson in 1927 to give extra accommodation The hospital ward was rebuilt at that time;an old photo shows it in equipped for children. It is now the dining room.

1960-2000 Stepney Weekending
The Old Rose and Crown was donated to a charitable company incorporated in June 1909. The Red House, Stepney had been formed to hold the lease of The Red House which still stands as 119 Commercial Road London E1.The lease of The Red House was sold in 1930. St Augustine's church was bombed in 1940 and not rebuilt.
Outside the hopping season of September Little Hoppers Hospital was used as a holiday home. The mechanization of gathering hops brought hopping to an end. The last entry in the hospital register (now in the Whitechapel archives) was dated 1953 and the building was very little used in the 1960's & 70's. There is a file of letters of that period containing ideas as to how the buildings could be used.
St Augustine's parish was merged into that of St Dunstan, Stepney and it was the Rector Norry McCurry who had the idea of renovating it to be a place that churches could use at weekends.
The renovations were completed in 1981 and the renamed 'Hoppers' was 'reopened' with a ceremony. Pictures of that period are in a display book at Hoppers. All the correspondence for that year and every year since are in an old trunk under the stairs in the main lounge for anyone who wishes to delve.
A Memorial building was destroyed by fire in the 1970's and a new building called 'The Cottage' was erected on the site in 1985. This brought the number of beds up to 20. The cost was met by The Whan Cross Fund as Hoppers was considered to be providing conference facilities for the London Diocese. There is a photograph of Bill Flory inspecting the building. He had looked after the Vicarages of London for many years, was a trustee of The Red House and lived by Bewl water.
Improved living standards in the 90's brought demands for more amenities. Funds from Whan Cross were again used in 1996 to convert the old hospital ward into a modern kitchen & dining room. Bathrooms were then installed upstairs in the old house.There had been a chapel in the memorial Building and so one of the rooms in the old house was designated as The Chapel in recognition of the spiritual heart of the Hoppers Family. Richard Chartres, the Bishop of London, who had previously been Bishop of Stepney donated an icon "Christ Pantocrator" to the new Chapel.

2000 . . . The Internet Age
Hoppers belongs to a dynamic little charity. The freehold is its only asset apart from some investments left from the sale of the Red House. It is run mainly by volunteers who, like the people on the war memorial, "have loved this place"
The management team are constantly reviewing which 'needs' of the present generation can be met by making appropriate use of the property. We believe that Hoppers is still a place of healing. One downside of social networking is the potential for people to feel isolated from 'fellowship'. The value of staying away with a small group is that they find the space to share deeply.
In recent years there has been an increasing partnership with groups from Paddock Wood and Five Oak Green, who find that Hoppers is a magic place to meet.
Maintaining the special atmosphere, balanced between old and new, is our aim.
To this end the kitchen, heating were replaced in 2009 and oak flooring laid. This was funded by the closure of The Mary Edmonds Bath Chair Fund, whose principal activity of providing bath chairs had ceased to exist. A secondary objective was to provide a 'change of air' for Londoners. Ron Vaughan, who had worked for finance department of the London Diocese, was a trustee of both The Red House and the Bath Chair Fund, obtained permission from The Charity Commission for the funds to be transferred.
The striking picture of the Last Supper, in the dining room was painted on site in 2009. Keeley Wynn, the artist, lives in Clerkenwell. She was staying at Hoppers with her family as part of a community group. The symbolism in the picture reflects her wholesome faith.
We have an amazingly diverse group of people who quietly get on with doing things that they see need doing. If you feel that you would like to be part of the team do get in touch.
Visitors attending the Heritage open day expressed surprise that an ancient building on their doorstep is both attractively furnished and being used to meet the needs of young and old from London and Five Oak Green.