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Tithe barns in Europe
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<p>A tithe barn was a type of <a href="/facts/Barn_(building)/bkDTvJc0">barn</a> used in much of <a href="/facts/Northern_Europe/u77t0yJI">northern Europe</a> in the <a href="/facts/Middle_Ages/RqzEKB9v">Middle Ages</a> for storing rents and <a href="/facts/Tithe/K1cNtpDy">tithes</a>. Farmers were required to give one-tenth of their produce to the <a href="/facts/Established_church/K7E28FLL">established church</a>. 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 <a href="/facts/Village_green/RygHWK9s">village greens</a>. </p><p>Many were monastic barns, originally used by the monastery itself or by a <a href="/facts/Monastic_grange/cwB1gPs0">monastic grange</a>. The word 'grange' is (indirectly) derived from Latin <i>granarium</i> ('<a href="/facts/Granary/zABS5kRh">granary</a>'). Identical barns were found on royal domains and country estates. </p><p>The medieval <a href="/facts/Aisle/awQvhgHS">aisled barn</a> was developed in the 12th and 13th centuries, following the examples of royal <a href="/facts/Hall/nVIlbjlE">halls</a>, hospitals and market halls. Its predecessors included Roman <a href="/facts/Horreum/Dl0KnhH0">horrea</a> and <a href="/facts/Neolithic_long_house/10ruD5Wu">Neolithic long houses</a>. </p><p>According to <a href="/facts/English_Heritage/rDKouWmj">English Heritage</a>, "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)". </p>