The tithe barn

Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places

Overview

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1003025
Date first listed:: 12-Feb-1925

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1003025
Date first listed:: 12-Feb-1925

Location

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

District:: Somerset (Unitary Authority)
Parish:: Doulting
National Grid Reference:: ST 64725 43024

Summary

Tithe barn 35m south of Manor Farm.

Reasons for Designation

The church in medieval Britain was of vital importance in all parts of life, not just deaths, baptisms and marriages. Church services were the framework of everyday existence and the strict calendar of festivals, Saint’s Days and events laid out by church authority were pivotal. Not only were charges levied for all services provided by the church, but peasants and farmers were expected to provide labour for free and one tenth of their yearly produce to the church as a form of tax called a tithe. Failure to pay tithes was likely to result in eternity spent in Hell undergoing torment, a fate regularly re-iterated during services to ensure parishioners fully complied. The tithe normally took the form of a tenth of the harvested grain which had to be stored in specially constructed barns known as tithe barns which could be extremely grand buildings exhibiting the best aspects of local building methods and materials. The tithe barn 35m south of Manor Farm is one of four originally connected with Glastonbury Abbey and survives to full height and retains its original features. It is an extremely unusual survival in such fine condition.

History

See Details.

Details

This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 16 July 2015. This record has been generated from an "old county number" (OCN) scheduling record. These are monuments that were not reviewed under the Monuments Protection Programme and are some of our oldest designation records.

This monument includes a tithe barn situated to the south of the settlement of Doulting and in the farmyard of Manor Farm. The tithe barn survives as a roofed, basically rectangular plan building standing to full height with two extending gabled porches on each long side. Each porch has moulded round arched doorways, single buttresses and blocked pedestrian doorways. The side elevations also have further buttresses. The end elevations have buttresses in the centres in three tiers and finials at the top of each gable end. There are triangular openings in each porch and each gable end along with single and cross loop ventilation slits. The interior has eight bays with a cruck construction stone tiled roof complete with timber collar leafs, purlins and some curved wind braces. The tithe barn is of 15th century date and was one of four originally belonging to Glastonbury Abbey.

The tithe barn is Listed Grade I.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:: SO 23
Legacy System:: RSM - OCN

Sources

Other
PastScape Monument No:-200378

Legal

This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.