Tithe Barn

From medieval times until the early 19th century, the church and clergy were financed through tithes. The tithe owner, sometimes the local parson, sometimes a cathedral or lay person, was entitled to receive one tenth of any agricultural produce of the parish. Tithe barns were erected to store this produce. Until 1536 the Archbishop of Canterbury was the lord of the manor and the tithe owner. When Henry VIII took of the manor, the tithes ownership passed to the Dean and Chapter of Worcester cathedral.

In Mortlake the tithe barn was in the grounds of the archbishop's palace which was later absorbed into the growing Mortlake brewery. The photograph on the right from around 1865 shows the tithe barn in the middle of the picture on Mortlake High Street. The photograph on the left shows the barn from the river side. The whole area was redeveloped in 1869; the tithe barn, together with the adjoining buildings on the northern side of the High Street, was demolished and the present brewery facade erected.