CAPEL HISTORY TRAIL 

No. 7 - The Hoppers' Hospital

The Hoppers is one of the oldest buildings in the parish with a title deed in existence dating from the 1600's when it was owned by Thomas Bennett of East Peckham and his wife Frances. The property passed through various families until in 1855 the then owner, John Bowles, converted the building for use as a 'beer house' known as the Rose and Crown. In 1876 he sold it to Edward and Henry Kelsey for £605 (around £80,000 today) who owned the Culverden Brewery in Tunbridge Wells. They spent the next forty years acquiring local pubs and owned over one hundred by the time Henry Kelsey retired in 1895. After Edward Kelsey died in 1903, the Rose and Crown continued until Christmas 1909 when it was closed as a result of a review under the 1904 Licensing Act. This legislation sought to reduce the number of licenced premises in an area if it was considered that too many existed, with compensation being paid to the owner under the Act.

In 1910 The Rose and Crown was leased for a year by Father Richard Wilson and his Mission and acquired the name of 'The Little Hoppers' Hospital'. Father Wilson had established a small presence in Capel from 1899 to provide both spiritual and health care to the large numbers of migrant hop workers that descended from East London and North Kent each summer. 'The Hoppers Parson', as he was later dubbed by the press, was Curate of St Augustine's Church in Stepney and had first travelled to Capel in 1898 to see for himself what his parishioners did in their hop picking 'holidays'. He was appalled by the sanitary conditions and practically non-existent medical facilities he discovered and witnessed the impact this had on the prevalence of tuberculosis, enteric fever and infant mortality.

By 1913, the 'Mission' had secured enough funding for Father Wilson to buy the former public house and begin to significantly improve the level of medical care he was able to provide to the itinerant workforce. This included trained nurses, a baby delivery ward for 'little hoppers' and vaccination 'concerts' to encourage the take up of smallpox inoculation.

The front courtyard building was opened in September 1925 after Charles Saunders, who was killed in World War I, left money to the Mission. A Memorial building was added after the death of Father Wilson in 1927 to give extra accommodation and the hospital ward was rebuilt at that time.

With the gradual decline in the hop industry during the first half of the twentieth century, the building was last used as a hospital in 1953, converted to holiday accommodation and was severely damaged by fire in 1971 which tragically killed the elderly caretaker. Over the next ten years renovations were made and the building reopened under its new name of 'Hoppers' in 1981.

Now turn to your left and continue along....