Tithe barns in Europe
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A tithe barn was a type of barn used in much of northern Europe in the Middle Ages for storing rents and tithes. Farmers were required to give one-tenth of their produce to the established Church. Tithe barns were usually associated with the village church or rectory, and independent farmers took their tithes there. The village priests did not have to pay tithes—the purpose of the tithe being their support. Some operated their own farms anyway. The former church property has sometimes been converted to village greens.
Many were monastic barns, originally used by the monastery itself or by a monastic grange. The word 'grange' is (indirectly) derived from Latin granarium ('granary'). Identical barns were found on royal domains and country estates.
The medieval aisled barn was developed in the 12th and 13th centuries, following the examples of royal halls, hospitals and market halls. Its predecessors included Roman horrea and prehistoric longhouses.
According to English Heritage, "exactly how barns in general were used in the Middle Ages is less well understood than might be expected, and the subject abounds with myths (for example, not one of England's surviving architecturally impressive barns was a tithe barn, although such barns existed)".[1]
Examples
There are surviving examples of medieval barns in England, some of them known as "tithe barns". English Heritage established criteria to determine if barns were used as tithe barns.[2] The total number of surviving medieval barns (dated up to 1550) in Britain may be estimated about 200.[3]
- Aberford C of E Primary School, Aberford, Leeds (Aberford School was based on a redundant tithe barn)[4]
- Bank Hall Barn, Bretherton, Lancashire
- The Bishop's Barn, Wells, Somerset
- Bishop's Cleeve Tithe Barn, Gloucestershire[5]
- Bradford on Avon Tithe Barn, Wiltshire
- Church of the Holy Ghost, Midsomer Norton, Somerset
- The Corbett Theatre, Loughton, which was the tithe barn at Ditchling
- Cressing Temple
- East Riddlesden Hall (National Trust)
- The Great Barn, Titchfield
- The Great Barn, Wanborough, Surrey
- Great Coxwell Tithe Barn, Oxfordshire
- Harmondsworth Great Barn, Harmondsworth, Middlesex
- Landbeach Tithe Barn, Landbeach, Cambridgeshire
- Melling Tithebarn, Merseyside c.18th Century
- Middle Littleton tithe barn
- Nether Poppleton Tithebarn, City of York
- Parish Hall and Rectory Chapel, Freshwater, Isle of Wight[6]
- Swalcliffe Barn, Oxfordshire
- Tithe Barn, Dunster[7]
- Tithe Barn, Maidstone, Kent
- Tithe Barn, Manor Farm, Doulting, Somerset
- Tithe Barn, Pilton, Somerset
- Upminster Tithe Barn, Upminster, Essex
- Upper Heyford tithe barn, Oxfordshire
- Haddenham tithe barn, Buckinghamshire
- West Pennard Court Barn
Germany
France
- Grange dimière, Tremblay-en-France[8]
- Grange de Meslay
Belgium
- 13th-century tithe barn of Ter Doest Abbey
- Herkenrode Abbey near Hasselt
See also
Literature
- Anthony Emery, Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales, 1300-1500, Cambridge 1996
- Walter Horn, 'On the Origins of the Medieval Bay System', in: Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 17 (1958), nr. 2, p. 2-23.
- Walter Horn, Ernest Born, The Barns of the Abbey of Beaulieu at its Granges of Great Coxwell and Beaulieu-St.-Leonard's, Berkeley-Los Angeles 1965.
- Graham Hughes, Barns of Rural Britain, London 1985.
- Malcolm Kirk, The Barn. Silent Spaces, London 1994.
- Jeremy Lake, Historic Farm Buildings. An Introduction and Guide, London 1989.
- Roland W. Morant, The Medieval Abbeys of England and Wales. A Resource Guide, Victoria, BC 2004, p. 502-511.
- Eric Sloane, An Age of Barns. An Illustrated Review of Classic Barn Styles and Construction, New York 1967, 4th ed. 2005.
References
- ^ "Research on Harmondsworth Barn". English Heritage. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
- ^ Thus the Great Coxwell "Tithe Barn" was not really a tithe barn, according to English Heritage.
- ^ Lake 1989.
- ^ Piper, Marolyn. "The Lost Village of Hillam Burchard". Retrieved 2008-07-21.
- ^ http://www.cleevetithebarn.org.uk
- ^ "Local List 22nd February 2011". Isle of Wight Council's List of Locally Listed Buildings. Isle of Wight Council. 22 February 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 December 2016. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ "Dunster Tithe Barn". Retrieved 21 August 2013.
- ^ "Tithe barn of Tremblay-en-France".
External links
- Photos of tithe barns on geograph.org.uk