Monument record MDR6448 - Tithe Barn, Whitwell

SK 525768 Whitwell, Tithe Barn. Ruined 15th century tithe barn in the ground of Whitwell Rectory. (1) The ruin of a building, constructed of local limestone, in the grounds of Whitwell rectory is said to have once been the rectorial tithe barn. In 1960/1 the area inside and around the building was cleared of trees and shrubs. During the clearance of ivy a timber upright nearly 18ft high was discovered, built into the south-western corner of the ruin and almost certainly in its original position. This represented the vestige of an earlier, timber-framed building that had become incorporated into the later stone-built barn. In August 1966 the upright was measured and the mortices were plotted. The limestone base for the corresponding main upright of the western end of the barn was found in position; however trenching at intervals across the presumed line of the north and south walls of the barn failed to reveal any stone bases in position for either main posts or aisle posts. However, further work identified stone bases for the eastern gable end of the barn still in position, incorporated in the base of the east wall of the garden. The dimensions of the timber-framed barn, as calculated from the evidence available, suggests an overall length of 91ft and overall width slightly in excess of 33ft. Map evidence suggests that sometime after 1814 (very probably soon afterwards) the western end of the barn was replaced in stone, without the aisles of the timber-framed barn. The barn appears to have remained in existence until 1884, when the old rectory was demolished. It is suggested that the western end of the barn was deliberately left as a ruin in 1884, as a romantic ivy-covered ornament in a landscaped garden visible from the new rectory. (2)