The Tithe Barn

The Tithe Barn is a farmhouse, likely originating as a cider house or barn in the 16th century, with a possible 18th-century addition. It was extensively restored in the 1970s. The building is constructed of random rubble local stone, with roughcast to the left-hand three bays and rendering on the rear. Quoins are visible on the right-hand gable end and along the end of the original building. It features brick stacks positioned above and at the left-hand gable end, and a thatched roof. The original plan is unclear, but it now comprises three cells, with an agricultural addition at the east end that has been converted into a kitchen. The building has two storeys and a 3:2:2 bay front, with the three bays on the left recessed. It has brick surrounds to all openings on the right-hand side, currently housing 20th-century casement windows. A 20th-century door is located in the third bay from the left, which has been resited to the west side of that bay. A large plate glass window is on the first floor of the right-hand return gable, with 20th-century French windows below.

The interior’s 1970s restoration complicates assessment of original features; some may be resited, imported, or reconstructed. The east end has a depressed Tudor arch-head Ham stone chimneypiece, featuring a large lintel slab, renewed chamfered jambs with bottle stops, and a spice cupboard beside. A plank and muntin screen, chamfered on both sides, divides the central room. A timber-framed partition on the front wall of the central room contains a toilet, where the original entrance was located. An entrance is now to the west. A blocked rear doorway of the through passage and a timber-framed partition to the west end room both remain. The west end room contains a chamfered beam with step and runout stops, and stone jambs to the fireplace, which has a renewed lintel. A winder stair is set against the front wall. On the first floor, two small Tudor arch-head Ham stone fireplaces are present, along with a framed partition and jointed cruck trusses. There is no visible smoke blackening in the roof space. The arrangement of the ground floor central room is unusual, being too small for a hall or through passage and too wide for a through passage alone. It is uncertain whether the building was originally a barn belonging to Forde Abbey in Dorset, converted into a dwelling in the mid-to-late 16th century, although it is unlikely it was ever a tithe barn.