Sudeley Castle, Tithe Barn

Sudeley Castle's Tithe Barn is a Grade I listed former tithe barn, now in ruins, built in the second half of the 15th century for Ralph Boteler. The barn is constructed from squared, coursed stone and features thirteen bays. The front faces the castle and has angled buttresses at each end, with additional buttresses between the bays and a plinth. Each bay originally had a tall slit air vent, with a small square hole at the head on each side. The first bay is plain, the second has a standard design, and the third features a small doorway with a chamfered arris and a 4-centred head. Three bays of the wall are missing, leaving only end stubs up to the air vent, and there is a wide double doorway with a 4-centred arch and moulded arris that originally led to the threshing floor. The next three bays contain a short slit with a 2-light mullioned window above (the mullion is missing) and a chute angled downwards through the wall by the buttress. There is a short, wide doorway with a 4-centred arch and moulded arris, with a similar window above it. The last bay has a short slit and a 2-light mullioned window above, with a single-light window above that. Both ends of the barn feature parapet gables with cross gablets and a carved finial on the left. The top of the side wall is missing. Inside, there are low doors in the back wall opposite the main entrances, and the wall posts originally rose from corbels below the trusses. The last three bays on the left are lofted at two levels, which may indicate an alteration; holes for the ends of cross beams and corbels below remain, and the end bays were separated from the rest of the barn by a timber-framed wall.