The Bishop’s Cleeve Tithe Barn is at the gateway to
the original village, near Cheltenham’s famous racecourse under the edge
of Cleeve Hill and the Cotswold escarpment. It was built in the 15th
century as a Tithe Barn for the Bishop of Worcester opposite Cleeve Hall,
then a residence of the Bishop.
At the end of the 19th Century the south end of the barn was destroyed by fire and cleared away but most of the original structure remains.
In the 1950’s the Tithe Barn was given to
the villagers with the Parish Council as the Custodial Trustees
Following fundraising activities and with the aid
of sponsorship from local business
a programme of restoration of the
exterior and improvements to the interior was carried out . The refurbished building was ceremonially opened in 1956 by the
Speaker of the House of Commons George Thomas. A Village Hall Charitable
Trust
A plain English interpretation of the of the trust deed can be seen here.
The Tithe Barn has been in popular Village Hall and has been kept in good condition over the last 50 years. The committee are keenly aware of burgeoning legislation with respect to public buildings, the need for inclusive access and the need to provide the standard of facilities expected by the community in the 21st century.
We are presently in the initial stages of a further programme of improvement to maintain the historic outline of the building whilst providing much needed internal facilities within a realistic budget. The committee would be pleased to hear from anyone willing to assist with this process or any aspect of managing the barn in its day to day activities.
For more photos of Bishop's Cleeve and the Tithe Barn see Mike Ralls' superb website 'Images of Bishop's Cleeve'