I was delighted to have been asked to speak at the Landbeach Parish Council annual public meeting on the Landbeach Tithe Barn. There was a good turnout at the meeting and great interest in the talk that I gave.
You may ask what a Tithe Barn is. Put simply it was a building for the Parish Priest to receive 10% of local farmers produce.
Tithe Barn’s are now quite rare in the UK. It is estimated that at least 90% have of them have been converted. It is thought at most 190, at lowest 20 remain. The Landbeach one is the only example left in the whole of Cambridgeshire and is known to be unique with still having its original floor in place.
The challenge ahead is setting up a Trust to help maintain the building and secure it’s long term future. Already there has been much media interest including local radio and printed press in addition to regional television. From this many organisations and people have come forward offering help – which is great news.
Preserving the building won’t be inexpensive, costings range between £50-100k. That said a number of private individuals have committed to making donations in excess of £20k. This would mean with grant bids/match funding the restoration of the building in my view is an achievable goal.
We look forward to the workshop meeting on June 30th where we will bring together the community, experts and interesting parties – on how we will secure the long term future of this wonderful Tudor building for future generations.
