Horses fully loaded with heavy packs would transport a huge range of goods along single-file tracks, bypassing bigger lanes and roads in order to save time and money.

It was a lonely way of life. The packs would disappear deep into the countryside and would only be seen again when they stopped for supplies or when they arrived at their final destination.

Where these vital trade routes met a river or stream, simple bridges were built with just enough room to accommodate a single horse and their load. Numerous packhorse bridges survive to this day, living testaments to an age before the dawn of canals and paved roads.

• Packhorses and Packhorsemen
• Packhorse Trails
• When is a Bridge a Packhorse Bridge?
• Characteristics of a Packhorse Bridge
• Conservation and Modern Use

Packhorses and Packhorsemen

For hundreds of years, until the construction of turnpike roads and then canals, horses were used to transport goods across the length and breadth of Britain, just as they were in the rest of Europe.

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The horses were short, stocky and strong: Scottish Galloway horses and German ‘Jaeger’ horses were particularly common. Wooden pack frames were strapped onto their backs and side bags – or panniers – were attached.

A wide range of goods were transported this way, ranging from corn and wool to coal, lead, iron ore, limestone and salt.

This system of transportation was especially effective for transporting fruits and vegetables into cities from the countryside or fish from coastal villages. Since packhorses could follow smaller, more direct paths, there was less risk of them getting stuck in the poorly-maintained rutted roads used by wagons. It was cheaper, too, since packhorses could bypass the tollgates found along bigger roads.

20 Miles Per Day

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A single packhorse could carry as much as 180kg and horses often travelled in groups, known as packhorse trains which sometimes numbered as many as 30 animals. However, progress was often slow. Packhorse trains would generally cover a maximum of 20 miles a day, or even less if the terrain was particularly hilly.

Since horses could only travel at certain times of the year, the job of a packhorse man was seasonal. In many cases, farmers supplanted their main income by guiding packhorses along fixed routes. In some cases, a packhorse man guided a single horse.

But in the case of packhorse trains, then one would lead the first horse and another packhorse man would walk behind the last horse, using both a stick and voice commands to keep them on course.

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The work was tough and not very well paid. It was almost entirely done by men. However, there are stories of packhorse women, usually dressing as men for protection against criminals.

Packhorse Trails

Packhorse trails were found all over Britain and Europe. They connected towns and cities with rural communities, fishing villages, mine and farms. For centuries, they were major trade arteries, with whole infrastructure networks built to service them.

Packhorse trails were usually narrow – only the width of one horse with passing places at regular intervals. However, sometimes the trails followed older, wider paths or they followed drovers’ roads, designed to be wide enough to accommodate whole herds of flocks of livestock.

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Where packhorse trails needed to cross streams or small rivers, special bridges were built. The peak era for building packhorse bridges was from around the early 1600s to the early 1800s, though some bridges are older. Many of them still survive to this day.

When is a Bridge a Packhorse Bridge?

Despite much interest in them by both professional and amateur historians, a single, clear, definition of a packhorse bridge has yet to be agreed upon.

Research into historical terms by the University of York has found that there is “no definition available”, noting some of what are now known as packhorse bridges were previously classed as ‘horse bridges’, ‘foot bridges’ or even ‘causeways’.

Narrow Packhorse Bridges

However, true packhorse bridges should generally have certain characteristics. Firstly, they must be narrow: that is, with just room enough for one horse and certainly not wide enough to accommodate a cart.

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A general rule-of-thumb among enthusiasts is that genuine packhorse bridges were built no more than six feet wide. At the same time, they should have been built before 1800, which is generally considered to be the end of the peak era of packhorses.

And finally, they should be located on recognized packhorse routes, with clear evidence that they were used as crossings by packhorses.

There are some exceptions to these general rules – for instance, where bridges were certainly part of known packhorse trails but which were just about wide enough for carts to cross, like the Moulton Packhorse Bridge in Suffolk.

Additionally, some small bridges were built to provide access to cottages from packhorse routes and therefore are not proper packhorse bridges.

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In many cases, surviving historical records or archives can be used to conclusively determine if a bridge was built for packhorses or not. But there are some other ways of determining a bridge’s purpose.

Old packhorse routes can often be identified by the clues they have left behind. Bridges close to pubs with names like the Pack Horse Inn or The Woolpack are very likely to be packhorse bridges, for example.

Characteristics of Packhorse Bridges

Packhorse bridges were built in a variety of styles and in a range of sizes. But one thing that they all have in common is that they were built as cheaply as possible. They were never built as status symbols or monuments of civic pride.

In many cases, their construction was funded through contributions from local merchants or even packhorsemen themselves. For example, the packhorse bridge in Stow, Scotland, was constructed thanks to public subscriptions between 1654 and 1655, with the local church contributing stone from its walls.

Similarly, the parishioners of Duthil Church in the Scottish Highlands all paid for the construction of a small packhorse bridge to enable funeral processions to cross the river (for this reason, the bridge is still to this day known as the ‘Coffin Bridge’).

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For this reason, packhorse bridges are not ornate but rather simple in design and function. Most were built from locally-sourced stone. So, while some bridges were made of flint, others, including several notable examples in the Peak District, were constructed from limestone slabs.

Medieval Bridges

The construction technique used was also relatively simple. In most cases, a timber framework was built to outline the shape of the bridge. Once all the bricks were in place, with stone rubble added between the stones to add strength, the wooden supports – also known as ‘formers’ – were removed.

Up until the around end of the 15^th century, the arches of packhorse bridges were usually pointed. However, towards the latter part of the Medieval period, arches became more rounded.

The number of arches varies significantly. Many packhorse bridges are single arch structures spanning small streams. However, single arched bridges can have steep inclines, far from ideal for horses carrying heavy loads.

Adding more arches reduces the rate of incline, making it easier for horses as well as for pedestrians. Additionally, in many cases, bridges were made far wider than the small streams or rivers they crossed in order to take into account seasonal or even freak flooding. The more arches a bridge had, the greater the chance packhorse trains would be able to cross year-round.

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Fourteen Arches

The longest surviving packhorse bridge in England is Essex Bridge, which was built across the River Trent in Staffordshire in the late 16^th century. Originally, it had 40 arches, allowing the bridge to span the wide river with a gentle incline for laden horses. However, only 14 of the original arches survive to this day.

Some packhorse bridges were built without parapets – low walls along their edges – at all. Most were, however, though they were always as low as possible. This way, the panniers carried by the horses could pass over unobstructed.

In the centuries following the end of the packhorse system of transportation, parapets were often built up more for the safety of pedestrians. 

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Longer packhorse bridges in particular are likely to have one or more small triangular cut-outs, usually in the middle of the bridge. The bridges were invariably single track, and pedestrians would be warned of an approaching packhorse train by bells attached to the lead horse.

If they failed to cross in time, they could simply duck into one of the cut-outs and let the horses and their cargo cross the bridge safely.

Conservation and Modern Use

From the 18^th century onwards, with the introduction of turnpike roads and canals into the British transport system, the packhorse system became largely obsolete. Many packhorse routes were quickly neglected and then forgotten about.

Others carried on as routes for pedestrians or drovers. The same was true with packhorse bridges. Those that continued to be used were sometimes modified, with parapets built up to keep pedestrians safer, and even widened to accommodate flocks and herds of livestock as well as carts and carriages.

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In the case of Sidford Bridge in Devon, the 12^th century, former single-track bridge was widened to the extent that it now carries cars over the River Sid as part of the main A3052 road.

In more recent times, local conservation groups as well as larger bodies including English Heritage have stepped in to protect and maintain old packhorse bridges.

Many are now on public footpaths, allowing walkers to follow in the footsteps of packhorse trains from centuries ago. Others are bridleways and some, like Charwelton Bridge in Nottinghamshire, carry the pavement alongside modern roads.

Several notable bridges enjoy legal protection – the 14-arch Essex Bridge, for example, is a Grade I listed structure as well as a Schedule Monument, which protects it from any modifications. Similarly, in Scotland, several packhorse bridges enjoy Grade B listed protection, recognizing their historic significance.

The post Packhorse Bridges: What are They? appeared first on RuralHistoria.

Built from around 1100 onwards and in use for more than 700 years, these tithe barns were used to store the produce and other goods that farmers were legally required to give to the Church once a year.

Tithe barns are remarkable buildings, noteworthy for their size, sturdiness and, in some cases, complexity or intricacy. But above all, they were built to serve a purpose, and they stand as testament to the reality of rural life across Britain and northern Europe between the 12^th and the 19^th centuries.

Contents

• A History of Tithing Laws
• Construction of Tithe Barns
• Decoration and Variants
• Identifying Tithe Barns
• Tithe Barns Today

A History of Tithe Laws

In the Middle Ages, peasants were taxed not on their money but on their produce. Tithes – from the Anglo-Saxon word “teotha” meaning tenth – was a system whereby they gave one-tenth of what they produced annually to support the local church and clergy.

In 885, King Ethelwulf issued a royal decree granting churches the right to demand tithes. The right was then legally affirmed with the Statute of Westminster of 1285.

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In theory, peasant farmers could pay the tithe in money. However, since almost all of them were impoverished, they paid in goods. These could include everything from vegetables, grain and seeds through to milk, eggs and wool.

Failure to pay the tithes, the peasants were told, would result in them being condemned to hell for eternity. The goods received would be stored in tithe barns, even though in many cases it simply spoiled or was eaten by rats.

The large amounts of wealth being generated for the Church by the tithing system was not lost on the Crown. Indeed, one of the key motivations behind King Henry VIII’s drive to reform the Church was a wish to get some of its money.

As a result, the Dissolution of the Monasteries between 1536 and 1541 took land off the Church. However, it was simply passed onto the Crown or to noble, secular landowners, who inherited the right to demand tithes from the peasants working it.

Construction of Tithe Barns

Despite growing opposition, including both from the Quakers on moral grounds and Adam Smith on economic grounds, tithing endured well into the 19^th century. It finally came to an end with the Tithe Commutation Act of 1836, though across Britain, just as across much of the rest of Europe, the tithe barns remained standing.

Right across Europe, the Church reminded medieval peasants of their duty to pay tithes – if questioned, clergy could cite the Bible, “…bring all the tithes of that year’s produce and store it in your towns…” (Deuteronomy 14:22-29).

From around the 12^th century onwards, then, barns designed specifically for the storage of tithes were built not just across Britain but also right across northern Europe, particularly in France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.

There was no one uniform design for tithe barns. However, they were almost always designed with practical considerations in mind. Barns were, therefore, usually long and wide, to allow as much produce to be stored as possible.

For example, the Middle Littleton Tithe Barn in the English county of Worcestershire, built in the 13^thor 14^th century, stands 130 feet long and 42 feet wide and also has several lean-to extensions on its exterior walls, likely used for the storage of apples or other fruits.

Horse and Cart

In many cases, barns were built in a cruciform layout. There would be two porches, one on either side of the barn, with doors large enough to allow a horse and cart to enter. Often, one of the doors would be lower than the other – the taller one was the entrance where fully-loaded carts would enter, the other, the exit where the empty carts left.

In the middle, there would be sufficient space to unload and, if necessary, sort the goods being offered as tithes, for example, sorting the wheat from the chaff.

The materials used to build tithe barns varied and often depended on what materials were available nearby or on the budget of the local church.

For example, wooden tithe barns were more commonly found in the east of England or in some parts of Germany, in places where the Church was granted use of nearby woodland. In other places, like in Wales or the Mendip Hills, stone was taken from sizeable quarries.

Similarly, while some tithe barns had thatched roofs – in fact, Abbotsbury Great Barn in Dorset is the largest thatched building in the world at 272 feet long by 31 feet wide – often making use of local materials or craftsmanship, others had tiled roofs. And, as with so many medieval constructions, much of the material used was ‘recycled’ from older buildings.

Decoration and Variants

The walls of a tithe barn were built thick, so as to keep the produce cool in the summertime. Small airholes in the walls helped keep things fresh and may even have been designed to allow owls or other birds in to prey on vermin and pests.

Again, the main consideration in the construction of tithe barns was practical use. However, some thought was also given to the aesthetics of a barn. Indeed, in many cases, barns were finished off with simple or even ornate decorations.

In many cases, decorations are simple. These may include the names or initials of the people who paid for their construction or the year in which the barn was completed – the date 1595 is clearly inscribed on the doorway of the tithe barn of Northolt, in the county of Middlesex, for example.

In other cases, tithe barns were decorated with depictions of animals or fruit or crops, symbolising what they were used for. Or they may have been adorned with religious imagery, most notably depictions of saints or local Church leaders.

Within a parish or a region, several tithe barns were often designed and built by the same people. As such, a common style is evident.

This is particularly the case in barns located around notable abbeys. The barns found close to Glastonbury Abbey in the south-west of England, for example, all boast high levels of craftsmanship and, though they differ in size, share a similar style. Such patterns are evident right across Britain and Europe.

Identifying Tithe Barns

Today, many of the old buildings called ‘tithe barns’ were actually built as normal barns, either for farmers, for local landowners or even for the Church. There is no real proof that they were ever built to store tithes offered up by peasant farmers.

The surest way of determining what is a ‘real’ tithe barn and what is not is to find historical proof. In many instances, the evidence does indeed exist, often to be found in local parish records.

For example, there are records to show that the large barn found in the town of Wells in the county of Somerset was built to store tithes for the local bishop. Likewise, in the case of nearby Dunster, there are records showing that its barn was used to store tithes that were paid to the local priory from the 1500s onwards.

Great Hall

Conversely, sometimes the records show that old barns were not used for tithes – thought that doesn’t make them any less interesting.

The Cressing Temple estate, the first rural estate in England established by the Knights Templar, is home to two exceptional 13th-century barns, used by the military order of monks to store the grain they grew rather than anything they took in taxation.

Or then there’s the 14th-century Charing Palace ‘Tithe Barn’ in Kent, which actually served as the Great Hall of the official residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury, before being used to store crops.

Where there are no written records proving a buildings status as a tithe barn, local historians can often make educated assumptions. Tithe barns were usually erected right in the centre of villages or even towns.

This made it easier for all the local peasant farmers to use them. In comparison, barns found outside of towns or villages tended to be used just by one farmer for normal storage. Alternatively, the simple design of a barn, combined with its proximity to a church or abbey, can be a sign that it was used to store tithes at least at some point during its existence.

Tithe Barns Today

With the passing of the Commutation of Tithes Act of 1836, the system of paying tithes in goods was replaced by money payments. Local churches therefore no longer needed large barns to use for storage. The tithe barn effectively became redundant overnight.

Since then, tithe barns have been demolished, modified or, in a few cases, preserved or restored back to their original state. Throughout the 19^th and 20^th centuries farmers who inherited tithe barns would often reform them, sometimes adding mezzanine floors, adding windows or chimneys.

Thatched roofs were replaced with tiles, extensions added, doorways expanded to allow tractors or other large farm machinery to enter, and electrical wiring installed. Lots of medieval barns are still used by farmers to this day

Many tithe barns have found different uses. They are used as wedding venues or meeting halls, pubs or even homes. Some are preserved by heritage associations, in Britain, by the National Trust or English Heritage as well as by private individuals or local history groups, and are often reformed to their original glory and open to visitors, offering a fascinating insight into the realities of medieval life.

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