Tithe Barn

The Tithe Barn, formerly part of Abbotsbury Abbey, dates back to around 1400. It features ashlar walls that have weathered to dressed stone and originally had a stone-slab roof covering the twelve bays at the south-west end. The remaining eleven bays have been unroofed since the 17th century, and the north wall from the sixth to the eleventh bay has been destroyed. A high plinth moulding runs around the buttresses, which create the bay divisions. The buttresses include a high set-off and embattled pedestals above the parapet, which can still be seen at the south-west gable-end, where there are right-angle and central table buttresses, the latter featuring a niched finial. The buttresses are cut back with set-offs throughout the rest of the building, which was converted to a thatch roof. The south wall has alternate bays with narrow loops that are splayed internally, and there are six loops of graduated sizes on the south-west gable. Originally, there were two porches, but only one survives at bay 16 (north), featuring opposing projecting entrances at bays 8 and 16. A moulded parapet remains across the south-west gable and on the south wall, where plain stone spouts can be found at bays 17, 20, and 21. The two-storey porch at bay 16 has diagonal buttresses, a crenellated parapet, and a stone-coped gable. It features a tall four-centred archway with two straight-chamfered orders. Inside the porch, there is a stone newel staircase that has two exits at parapet level, which were formerly used for walkways. The interior of the porch was once vaulted, and corbels and springers of a quadripartite rib vault remain. The projecting and opposing entrances on the south wall originally had four-centred and chamfered openings; the eastern one is blocked, while the western is partly destroyed and altered. Both entrances have low gabled stone roofs and large segmental rere-arches. The north wall of the thatched barn features ashlar blocking that may date to the 17th century. Inside, the roof construction consists of principals with halved collars and projecting ashlaring supported by very short hammer-beams, with no purlins. The porch retains arch-braced collar trusses, with eight closely set trusses featuring ashlaring and clasped purlins from around the 14th century. The Tithe Barn is a Scheduled Ancient Monument.