The British oast is a well-loved feature of the countryside that happens to make a great home too.
So what is an oast? For visitors from overseas, the distinctive circular towers with conical roofs can be quite a surprising sight. Oasts were the farm buildings where hops were traditionally dried out and packed for our brewing industry from the 16th century onwards.
The word actually refers to the attached barn, where the hop press was situated, while the tower where the hops were dried should properly be called the kiln or roundel. The roundel acted like a chimney. A charcoal-fired kiln was built at the bottom, and above were two or three thin floors where the hops were spread, through which the heat could pass, before disappearing through the white-painted cowl on the top.