The Hop Exchange Bankside, and more specifically the area around Borough High Street, was the centre of London’s brewing industry from the 17th century onwards.
The Hop Exchange, opened in 1867 and designed by R.H Moore, stands on Southwark Street in Borough with carvings above the main entrance showing hop gatherers at work.
Hops, introduced to England from the Netherlands, give beer its bitter taste and also act as a preservative. Dried hops, harvested in the fields of Kent by hundreds of Southwark families, were brought to either London Bridge Station or by river to be stored in one of the many warehouses in the area.
Although the Hop Exchange now houses private offices, you can peer through the main doors and see the great hall where the former trading floor was.
The purpose of the Exchange was to provide hop growers, merchants and dealers with a single market centre, and it had a glass roof to allow potential buyers to view the hops by natural light.
Extensive damage to the Hop Exchange was caused by fire in 1920 leading to the two upper floors being removed and the rest restored as offices. It undoubtedly remains, however, one of Southwark’s most important nineteenth century buildings. |