Former tithe barn in Jesberg, GermanyTithe barn in Jesteburg, Germany
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 Neolithic long houses.
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
England
Medieval
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]
Emery, Anthony (1996). Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales, 1300-1500. Vol.1, Northern England. Cambridge University Press. ISBN978-0521497237.
Emmons, James BT (2015). Artifacts from Medieval Europe (1sted.). Greenwood.
Horn, Walter (1958). "On the Origins of the Medieval Bay System". Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. 17 (2): 2–23. doi:10.2307/987918. JSTOR987918.
Horn, Walter; Born, Ernest (1965). The Barns of the Abbey of Beaulieu at its Granges of Great Coxwell and Beaulieu-St.-Leonards. University of California Press. ISBN978-0520005723.
Hughes, Graham (1985). Barns of Rural Britain. London: Herbert Press Ltd. ISBN978-0906969366.
Morant, Roland W. (2004). The Medieval Abbeys of England and Wales: A Resource Guide. Victoria, BC: Trafford Publishing. pp.502–511. ISBN978-1412026048.
Sloane, Eric (1967). An Age of Barns: An Illustrated Review of Classic Barn Styles and Construction (2005 – 4thed.). Voyageur Press.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tithe barns.
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