Tithe map
The term Tithe map is usually applied to a map of an English or Welsh parish or township, prepared following the Tithe Commutation Act 1836. This act allowed tithes to be paid in cash rather than goods. The map and its accompanying schedule gave the names of all owners and occupiers of land in the parish. Individual tithe owners sometimes prepared maps for their own use to show who owned what land. These maps are sometimes also called tithe maps, although such maps are not common before 1836[1].
Tithes
The payment of one tenth of local produce to the church had been established in Anglo Saxon England before the Norman Conquest. This was originally in kind - every tenth stook of corn, etc. It originally supported the local priest, but in some cases, the right to receive the tithe was acquired by an organisation such as a monastery or college who paid a curate. With the dissolution of the monasteries, the right to receive tithes were acquired by individuals. In some instances, a tithe barn was built to hold the tithes. Tithes themselves were controversial, particularly among non conformists who resented supporting the established church[2], and payment in kind was not convenient for either the farmer or the tithe owner.
Conversion to cash payments
Over time, in some parishes, the tithe owner came to an agreement with the tithe payers to receive cash instead of farm produce. This could be for a stated period of time or indefinitely[3]. During the period of parliamentary enclosure, the enclosure act frequently abolished tithes in return for an allocation of land to the tithe owner. However, in many parishes, tithes continued to be paid in kind.
Tithe Commutation Act 1836
The Tithe Commutation Act 1836 and an amending act in 1837 established a process by which tithes could be converted to money payments. This required the drawing of an accurate map (the accuracy of which was certified by commissioners) showing all the land in the parish. The initial intent was to produce maps of the highest possible quality, but the expense (incurred by the landowners) led to the provision that the accuracy of the maps would be testified to by the seal of the commissioners, and only maps of suitable quality would be so sealed. In the end, about one sixth of the maps had seals. A map was produced for each "tithe district", that is, one region in which tithes were paid as a unit. These could be distinct from parishes or townships. Areas in which tithes had already been commutated were not mapped, so that coverage varied widely from county to county. The maps indicated parcels and buildings, assigning each a number.
The map was accompanied by a schedule in the form of a table with an entry for each map item by number. This showed the owner, occupier and a description of the land in the parish including individual fields - sometimes with field names. (The description may be short - house and barn, arable, etc.)[4] A preamble gave the name of the tithe owner, the circumstances under which tithes were owed, and the whether the apportionment was subject to an agreement worked out among the parties, or was being imposed by the Crown. Most of the surveying and mapping was carried out by 1841, and the work was largely completed by 1851. In some cases amendments had to be filed as properties were divided or other circumstances intervened. The work was also complicated by numerous irregularities in the way tithes were assessed. For example, timber might or might not include standing trees, branches, acorns, mast, and even charcoal. Variations as to the circumstances of tithe-paying were also considerable. Three copies of these maps and schedules were prepared, one of which was held centrally by the Tithe Commissioners, one locally in the parish church and one in the diocesan registry[5].
Maps
The map (and schedule) held by the commissioners passed to the Inland Revenue and these are now held in the The National Archives at Kew[6] (classes IR29 and IR30). Although the maps do not always survive, the parish copy is now usually held in the county record office. The diocesan copies for most Welsh parishes are held at the National Library of Wales at Aberystwyth. Prior to the publication of large scale Ordnance Survey maps in the late nineteenth century, tithe maps were frequently copied (in whole or part) for other purposes - for example to accompany planned railways or as part of the title deeds for a sale. More recently, tithe maps and apportionments have often been used as references by genealogists and other historical researchers. For many parishes they provide the only large scale map showing the landscape prior to the industrial revolution[7] and they frequently provide the earliest evidence for the field system in the parish.
References
Further reading
- William Foot, Maps for Family History (Public Record Office Readers Guide No 9, PRO Publications, 1994)
- J B Harley, Maps for the local historian (Blackfriars Press, reprinted 1977)
- Roger Kain and Hugh Prince, Tithe Surveys for Historians (Philimore, 2000)
- The Tithe Maps of England and Wales: A Cartographic Analysis and County-by-County Catalogue, by Roger J. P. Kain (Author), Richard R. Oliver (1995) [1]
- Lionel Munby, Short Guide to Records, No 20 (The Historical Association, undated)
- List and Index Society, Inland Revenue; Tithe Maps and Apportionments (List and Index Society; Volume I, 1971 and volume II, 1972)
- Herbert Hope Lockwood, Tithe & Other Records of Essex and Barking (Essex Record Office, 2006)
- Robert Davies, The Tithe Maps of Wales (National Library of Wales, 1999)