Tithe barn, Postlip

The tithe barn at Postlip stands about 60m south of Postlip Hall, in the valley of the River Isbourne below Cleeve Common, about 3km west of Winchcombe. It is a long stone barn of probably the fifteenth century, listed Grade II* and also a scheduled monument, and is now an assembly hall for community activities.

History

The barn was built, probably in the fifteenth century, as the farm barn of Postlip, which has its own Norman chapel. Whether this barn ever held tithes, as its name suggests, no source we have read confirms.

Tobacco

In the seventeenth century Winchcombe was known for an unexpected crop. Tobacco was a major crop round the town for about 60 years, and every government attempt to destroy it, Winchcombe Museum says, was fought off by the whole town. The barn's listing reports that it was used for wetting and drying the Winchcombe tobacco crop. The museum thinks the crop died out because the soil was exhausted and cheaper tobacco came in from Virginia.

A community hall

Postlip Hall itself, a large house mostly of the seventeenth century, had four tenants in the early 1860s and its listing records it in six occupations. The households who now live at the hall run it as the Postlip Housing Association, and their entry in the UK Cohousing directory says they hold barn dances, folk weekends and weddings in the barn as well as the beer festival. The barn is an assembly hall for community activities, and its floor was laid in 1983 with concrete flags and a central section of cobbles and stone between the cart bays. Every July the barn hosts the Cotswold Beer Festival, run by the Postlip Housing Association with CAMRA; in 2026 the festival marked 48 years, and its organisers call it the longest-running festival of its kind to stay in the same place.

What to look for

The tithe barn is eight bays long, of thin-bedded coursed limestone with large quoins, under a steep roof. From the Cotswold Way, look for:

• the two deep cart entrances in the fourth bay from the north end, with large plank doors on wooden lintels;
• the entrance facing the hall, with a raised central section and stones set in a reversed arch;
• the small carved figure on the saddle stone at the south-west corner of the roof;
• the gabled lights in the roof, three on the south-east side and two on the north-west, added in the late nineteenth century.

Inside, which you see only at events, the roof stands on raised crucks resting on a plate about 2m above the floor, with three tiers of purlins and a complete run of wind braces between the lower two.

Visiting

The barn is private and is not open to drop-in visitors. Please see it from the Cotswold Way, which runs past it, and respect the privacy of the homes. The way to see inside is the Cotswold Beer Festival, held over a weekend in mid July (17 to 19 July in 2026), with sessions on Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday lunchtime; the 2027 dates had not been announced when we checked, so look for them on the festival's own pages.

Getting there

There is no public parking at Postlip. From Winchcombe, follow the Cotswold Way south past Belas Knap and down to Postlip, about 7.5km by the trail from Back Lane car park (GL54 5PZ); from Cleeve Hill, walk down from the quarry car park by the golf club; Stagecoach West's W runs from the main road below the golf club to Winchcombe about hourly, Monday to Saturday only.

On foot, the Cotswold Way's section from Winchcombe to Cleeve Hill and the full Cotswold Way pass the barn, and the loop by Belas Knap and Cleeve Common comes back past it from the common.

Nearby

St James' Chapel is about 130m north of the barn, beside the hall. Above the valley, Cleeve Common is the highest ground in the Cotswolds. In Winchcombe, St Peter's Church and Vineyard Bridge are at the end of the walk, and the Cleeve Hill Hotel is a place to stay on Cleeve Hill.