Starting life as three weavers' cottages built circa
1460 The Hoop was converted to an Ale House approximately 450 years ago. There are several possible explanations why the ale house was named "The Hoop", the most common being the hoops used by a cooper in the manufacture of barrels. Another being the raised hoops that would encircle a quart pot. In bygone times an overflowing tankard was said to be "cock-a-hoop" and the expression has since come to denote merry-making and drinking without stint. A tradition the locals still boast!

Stock, in which The Hoop is situated, was also a well known centre for the manufacture of crockery and in the early days, The Hoop was a meeting place for workers of the village potteries.

The present-day Hoop is notable for its handsome brick fireplaces. The bar is ornamented throughout by the building’s original timber framework, most of which formed part of warships lying in dock at Tilbury. It was the practice in those days for the beams to be transported from the coast on wagons, after which the drivers would load their vehicles with newly-cut forest timber and take it back to Tilbury.

The Hoop’s beams are perforated with shipwright’s holes, and it was in one of these apertures that an 18th century servant girl’s letter was discovered by builders in 1971. The letter, which was written between 1790 and 1795, came from the home of the girl’s employers in London, and enquired about the welfare of her child.

A photograph of the letter and the then landlord Mr. Dixon can be seen hanging on the wall in the saloon bar. The letter was addressed to Thomas Jarvis, a local builder, and it is probable that he used it to plug a gap while constructing one of the tavern’s walls.

The Hoop’s previous innkeepers have included a much-travelled family called Dixon, who were followed by a landlord named Kingham and in 1977 Alf and Betty Blyth, took over the pub when Mr. Blyth acquired the freehold in partnership with Mr. Roger Shoesmith. It was then sold onto Mr. Albert Kitchen who was the landlord up until 3rd November 2004.

Today The Hoop is famous for its Beer Festival which is held every May / June and for its traditional foods, ales and whiskies. Click on the other links for further information.
Hoop'tastic fact  

Beer is the world’s oldest and most widely consumed alcoholic drink.
Its origins lie in Ancient Egypt, Babylonia and Mesopotamia. Growing grain to make beer and bread turned nomads into settlers 3,000 years before the birth of Christ.


In the first millennium BC, as Phoenician sea-faring traders took both cereals and the knowledge of beer making to other countries, the art of brewing also established itself in northern Europe.


The spread of Islam across North Africa and the Middle East in the 7th and 8th century AD, however, meant severe restrictions were placed on alcohol and this helped to retard the further development of brewing in the birthplace of beer.

Across the wheat and barley growing regions of northern Europe, beer had established itself at the very heart of society: a position it retains today.