Fuggle Hops
The Hampton Estate and hop growing are synonymous. Hops have been grown in the estate’s hop gardens in the village of Puttenham for hundreds of years – now the last commercial hop gardens in Surrey.
We specialise in just one variety of hop, the traditional Fuggle hop, revered by brewers throughout the country. It has a wonderful delicate, minty, grassy and slightly floral aroma and its bittering characteristics are described as well rounded, classic and green tea.
Decorative Hops from our 2026 harvest
We are offering for sale our beautiful hop bines freshly cut from our traditional hop gardens as we run our annual hop harvest. These will be available for a limited time only, from Tuesday 1st September to Tuesday 8th September 2026 (closed Sunday), between 9am and 4pm from the Hampton Hop Oast GU10 1HP. Easily find us via What3Words ///elated.riddle.merge. Priced at £42, each beautiful hop bine is about 12ft long with 2 or 3 shoots intertwined around a central string, and full of aromatic hops. You are welcome to arrive between 9am and 4pm to select yours, and pay on the day by cash or card.
Our decorative hop garlands are easily used for flower decoration, harvest festivals and wedding venues during this period. The 12 foot garlands look extremely attractive and provide a year round dry flower display. Bought fresh the hops dry naturally in situ and can either be augmented with other dried flowers or used by themselves. The hop bine has a string running through the center for easy fixing but needs to be put in place as soon as possible after purchase to avoid deterioration. The aroma of a freshly strung hop is intoxicating, and gently fades over the first month.
Hop bines are only available during our annual hop harvest, and are not to be missed!
For decorative hop enquiries please email shop@hamptonestate.co.uk.
Growing Hops
Our hop gardens extend to 24 acres and are situated on the southern slopes of the Hogs Back where they form the backdrop to the picturesque village of Puttenham.
The hop gardens comprise hop poles and wirework which form a framework around the plants. In February and March each hop plant is given four strings hooked from the top of the wire and the shoots begin to grow up the strings. The growing season starts in April when the hop plants start to shoot and small purple buds emerge. By May they need a hand and they are individually trained to ensure that only the best shoots are used to grow up the strings ( two shoots per string) and that they are heading in the right direction.
By midsummer day all the shoots should have reached the top of the framework at a height of 16 feet and fruit starts to form. The mature hop flowers are harvested at the beginning of September plucked from the hop bines by the estate picking machine before being dried in the Hampton Hop Oast. The hops are finally pressed and stored in bales weighing around 60 kgs.
Our bales are stored on farm until they are despatched to our brewer customers. Currently we are delighted to supply The Hogs Back Brewery, Harvey’s of Lewes, The Black Sheep Brewery in Masham Yorkshire and many UK hop merchants. Part of the crop is exported to the USA for craft beers with a hint of English character.
