*This cache is inaccessible during hop picking season*
In 1822 William Shoobridge arrived in Van Diemen's Land with some hops. He is credited with being the first person to grow hops in Tasmania although there are other claims. In 1867 William Shoobridge's son, Ebenezer, came to the Styx valley and began growing and processing hops. He was, by any definition, a remarkable man who, with a combination of religious zeal and hard nosed capitalism, managed to make Bushy Park the largest producer of hops in both Australia and, that dubious accolade, the Southern Hemisphere. In the latter half of the 19th century, Tasmanian hop growers led the field in kiln design, increasing their yields by more efficient drying of the hops.
At the time of its construction, in 1867, it was commented that the Text Kiln was probably the largest hop kiln in the world. This octagonal kiln was built for William Shoobridge by a Mr Kipling of Hobart Town for the (then) stupendous cost of £1,100.
The kiln could dry 2,000 bushels of hops a day and the attached cooling room was 100ft long and 20 ft wide. (1 bushel = 8 gallons - it was a measure of volume/mass rather than weight.) This kiln also used a revolutionary (then) method of drying, in that the air was passed through 6 inch diameter pipes and the heat source and air intake were both OUTSIDE the structure, drawing air from outside which never came into contact with the fires, whereas previously the heat had been directly generated from the fires to the drying hops, which sometimes caused an undesirable smoked taint.
Ebenezer Shoobridge, as a devout Quaker, had plaques with Bible texts mounted on the walls of this oast house, thus its name.