Another hop stop in pictures
The area around London’s Borough Market is rich with beer-related destinations, most of which involve drinking beer.
Before you dive into the first pint it’s worth cruising by the Hop Exchange on Southwark Street (the closest tube stop, and also a train stop, is London Bridge). The building houses private offices, but it is worth walking the length of to see the intricate iron work and other carvings depicting hops - and to realize just how big the hop trade was. You can peer through the main doors and see the great hall where the former trading floor was.
In fact, the area was once known as the Hop Quarter, because hops were stored in many nearby buildings.
The Hop and Malt Exchange first open 1868, and both hops and malt were traded in the atrium area. Business was conducted on the ground floor. Offices of merchants occupied three floors, with their doors opening into the atrium.
The building suffered fire damage in 1918, destroying the ornamental roof and some of the upper floors. The building has been meticulously restored, and since the demolition of the Coal Exchange in the City during the 1960s it is a unique example of a building type that was once so important in 19th century London.
Bankside, and more specifically the area around Borough High Street, was the center of London’s brewing industry from the 17th century on.
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.
This building (pictures at right) is around the corner - and on the way to the famous George, a historic coaching inn. Another reminder of how important the beer trade was in the late 19th century.
