The Cotswold HyperGuide - Tithe Barns

The medieval church, while instructing its flock to look for their riches in heaven, was not averse to stockpiling riches on earth. Take one look at an abbey tithe barn and you will understand why the dissolution of the monasteries took place so smoothly. These barns are enormous. The great tithe barn at Frocester (right, top and middle) near Stroud is 184 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 36 feet high to the ridge of the roof, and the massive buttressed walls are 12 feet high at the eaves. The roof is made from traditional stone tiles, and massive roof timbers are needed to support the weight. It was built for the Abbot de Gamage between 1264 and 1306.

The extraordinary thing about the Frocester barn is that it has been in continuous use as a barn for 700 years. There are bales of hay and straw, bits of old farm machinery, sacks of this and bags of that. The tractor comes and goes. A ginger cat darts about, suspicious and nervous at the intrusion. Narrow rays of light filter into the gloom from tiny windows, and there is an overpowering smell of dried hay and old dust.

Another fine barn is at Stanway (left), built for the Abbot of Tewkesbury in the 14th. century. Tewkesbury is many miles away, but these abbots had vast estates - it is estimated that about one third of the Cotswold area was owned by the church before the Dissolution. Winchcombe Abbey alone had 25,300 acres in 13 parishes.

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Copyright Digital Brilliance 1995