Tithe Barn at Bradford on Avon

when money was in short supply, it was usual for rents to be paid in kind-cattle, grain, cloth, etc.-and of sending over long distances, where a landlord was many miles away. These rents or tithes were stored in large buildings of this sort, which date from the first half of the fourteenth century. The barns, together with the abbey mills, are the earliest of our industrial buildings to survive. they were not alone in their day, for many industries were beginning to be set up, including those of stoneworking-making marble shafts or window tracery for instance. these centers not only set standards of performance, they also influenced design.