Tithe barn

Former tithe barn in Jesberg (Germany)

A tithe barn was a type of barn used in much of northern Europe in the Middle Ages for storing the tithes — a tenth of the farm's produce which had to be given to the church.

Tithe barns would usually have been barns often associated with the village church or rectory, to which independent farmers took their tithes.

The village priests wouldn't have to pay tithes. They had their own farms, which are now village greens in some villages.

There are many surviving examples of medieval tithe barns in England:

• Aberford C of E Primary School, Aberford, Leeds (Aberford School was based on a redundant tithe barn)
• Bank Hall Barn, Bretherton, Lancashire
• Saxon Tithe Barn Bradford-on Avon
• Church of the Holy Ghost, Midsomer Norton, Somerset
• Tithe Barn, Dunster, Dunster [1]
• East Riddlesden Hall (National Trust)
• Great Coxwell Tithe Barn, Oxfordshire
• Harmondsworth Great Barn, Harmondsworth, Middlesex
• Melling Tithebarn, Merseyside c.18th Century
• Middle Littleton tithe barn
• Nether Poppleton Tithebarn, City of York
• Swalcliffe Barn, Oxfordshire
• Tithe Barn, Maidstone, Kent
• Tithe Barn, Pilton, Somerset
• The Bishop's Barn, Wells, Somerset
• Tithe Barn, Manor Farm, Doulting, Somerset
• West Pennard Court Barn
• Bishop's Cleeve Tithe Barn, Gloucestershire

One surviving example of a medieval tithe barn in Germany:

• Castle of Lissingen, Rhineland-Palatinate

See also

• Bishop's storehouse
• Staddle stones: Function
• Tithe maps

External links

• Photos of tithe barns on geograph.org.uk