Great Coxwell tithe barn, Oxfordshire

The tithe barn at Great Coxwell in Oxfordshire was built by the Cistercian monks of Beaulieu Abbey in about 1292. Dendrochronology has dated some of the timbers of the structure to 1253 and ensuing years, as well as to the winter of 1291-2. The walls are built of Cotswold stone and the roof is tiled with Stonesfield slate.

It measures 152 feet (46m) long and 48 feet (15m) high. It has a small east porch (shown above) and a larger west porch. The south elevation (above) received most attention from the builders with the buttresses, ventilation holes and great doorway being completely symmetrical. William Morris said it was "as noble as any cathedral". The barn is a Grade 1 Listed structure and since 1956 it has been in the ownership of the National Trust.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon D5300

Hartpury tithe barn

The original purpose of the tithe barn was to hold the produce paid by farmers to the local church. One tenth of a farm's production was paid to the priest and went towards his and the wider church's upkeep. A number of tithe barns still remain in Britain, and many more are remembered in street names. The fourteenth century tithe barn, built by the Abbey of Gloucester at Hartpury, is one of the largest in the country, measuring 161 feet by 36 feet. It is made of stone and may have originally had a thatched roof. The present roof is tiled. In the eighteenth the large main door was supplemented by five smaller doors. Further adaptations - inside dividing walls and adjoining walled yards to manage cattle - were added in the nineteenth century. Interestingly, on one end of the roof is a Welsh dragon finial (facing towards England) and on the other is an English lion (facing towards Wales).

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Old barn, new staircase

The conversion of old buildings to new uses is a common phenomenon in the UK today. And, regular occurrence though it may be, it still presents the owners and architects with a dilemma: should new additions mimic old examples, should they be contemporary solutions that acknowledge the building, or should they be new designs that pay no heed to their location. I always favour the second option, and that seems to be the most widely adopted approach too. Today's photography shows the staircase inserted in the medieval tithe barn in Abergavenny, Wales. Its sharp modern angles and steel are dissonant notes but the glass allows the old material to show through and the wood echoes one of the original building materials. My photograph required a strong silhouette to make the composition work better, and my wife obliged.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100