The Tithe Barn Trust is working hard to secure the future of the iconic Landbeach tithe barn but is very much aware that it is building on hard work undertaken over many years by the now defunct Landbeach Society. In this blog, one-time Chairman of the Society and current Tithe Barn Trust committee member Dr. Ray Gambell outlines the background to the barn and the role of the Society played in working to ensure the future of our wonderful tithe barn.

The Landbeach Society was founded in 1972 in part to secure the preservation, protection, development and improvement of features of historic or public interest in Landbeach. Of particular importance were the older buildings, many thatched, which were in a sad state of repair. Chief amongst these was the Tithe Barn.

As a likely 15^th Century structure the tithe barn is one of the oldest buildings in the village and its history is very much bound up with the local Parish Church of All Saints’, the former Manor of Chamberlains in Landbeach, and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. The College bought the Manor and appointed the Rector from the mid 14^th century until the 1970s. He was usually the Master or a senior Fellow of the College, who lived in the adjacent Rectory and could farm the glebe holdings (church land) himself, or let them out to a tenant, sometimes retaining the tithes or commuting them.

By the early 1900s the Manor and Rectory farms had been brought together under one tenant, William Money, and the Tithe Barn was used as a normal farm barn for the storage of crops, farm machinery and general farm purposes. Following World War II the use of the Barn continued in this way, but its condition gradually deteriorated.

At the time of founding of the Landbeach Society, the barn was still a part of the Corpus Christi College Manor Farm, now tenanted by the Hatley family, and used mainly as a storehouse for ageing farm implements. In 1975 the Diocese of Ely sold the Rectory into private hands but retained the Tithe Barn, which falls within the curtilage of the Rectory, together with an access path from Waterbeach Road. At this time, the tithe barn was in a very poor state (as illustrated by the contemporaneous drawing below) and was in great need of attention so The Landbeach Society obtained a 99-year lease for the Tithe Barn from the Diocese in 1975 at a peppercorn rent, and set about raising the funds necessary to repair the Barn, and in particular to re-thatch it.

A series of fundraising events were held to bring about the restoration of the building, including ‘Open Days’ when houses in the village were shown to the general public. Together with loans, generous donations and revenue from a variety of ventures The Society secured the substantial sum needed to re-thatch, restore and renovate the Barn. The re-thatching is illustrated below. A triumphant ‘Barn Warming’ ceremony was held in December 1975 to celebrate this achievement.

The Diocese of Ely sold the Barn to South Cambridgeshire District Council in 1986 and the lease to The Landbeach Society was continued, but the maintenance of ancient structures is a constant activity and the Society was by then finding it increasingly difficult to fund the ongoing maintenance necessary to keep the building in good condition. All manner of events were held in the Barn, both as fundraisers and for the general enjoyment of the property by the villagers.

The Landbeach Society held fairly regular music events in the Barn over the years. These included performances by choirs, mandolin band, recorder group, string quartet, and folk singers with guitar accompaniment. The acoustic of the Barn is very sympathetic to such performances, and the members of the audience brought their picnics along to complete the evenings’ entertainment in the special atmosphere of the building.

A particularly memorable event was a performance by Bernard Miles (later granted a life peerage as Baron Miles of Blackfriars), the noted dialect actor. Standing in the atmospheric surroundings of the Barn, with the great double doors fully open (to let in sufficient light!), we were entertained by country tales and poems like no other. As one member of the audience said afterwards “Seeing Bernard Miles perform in the historic Barn was a stand-out occasion.” Perhaps the most bizarre event was a fire fighting demonstration put on in 1995 by two villagers (Geoff Setchell and Maurice Lynn) to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the ending of the 1939-45 war, involving the use of a fake fire and a wartime stirrup pump!

The Barn was (and still is) furnished with a number of large refectory-style tables, and long wooden pews originally from the Church, as well as wooden chairs, all very much in keeping with the atmosphere of the building. However, the absence of any other facilities made mounting regular activities challenging. Access was across a long uneven grass path and there was no artificial lighting, water or toilets. A long electric lead could be run across the garden from the Old Rectory on occasion (with the owner’s permission), and a portable toilet from a river cruiser was also brought along, but these were far from perfect arrangements.

Despite these drawbacks, The Landbeach Society received very positive comments on the opportunities to go into and to use the Barn – even when it rained!

‘I remember that handsome young man who sang and played his guitar.’

‘I had not expected the string quartet to sound so. . well, lovely.’

‘It was worth tramping through the wet grass to hear the Choir sing.’

‘We had a beautiful picnic looking out from the Barn across the Common in the setting sun.’

Various small repairs were carried out to the fabric of the building over the years, often with the help of the District Council but eventually, because of the difficulty of raising enough money to maintain the Barn adequately, the Society reluctantly decided that it had to surrender the lease back to the District Council in 2014.

Subsequently the Council encouraged the establishment of a Trust to take over the lease of the Tithe Barn. In 2016 the Tithe Barn Trust became a registered charity and in 2019 took on a 99 year lease of the Tithe Barn and at a Special General Meeting on 20 October 2021 The Landbeach Society voted unanimously to dissolve itself. The committee felt that The Society had achieved its original aim of raising awareness of the village’s history and encouraging property owners to preserve their historic buildings. Following the final meeting, the Landbeach Village Network was formed to continue and expand upon the work of the former Society. Details can be found at https://www.landbeach.org.uk/groups/528-landbeach-village-network-new-for-2021 or their Facebook page – https://www.facebook.com/groups/191865354866069/?hoisted_section_header_type=recently_seen&multi_permalinks=875119413207323

Ray Gambell