Tithe Maps and Apportionments

 Tithe maps and their apportionments give a good view of the rural countryside in the 1840s, showing (at best) the ownerships, tenancies, land use and the local names of fields, woods and marshes.

For Kent there are two sources for the apportionment listings - the Kent Archaeological Society and Ted O'Connell's website, but unfortunately for the desk-bound amateur historian the maps can only be viewed in local libraries by asking the librarian for CDs for each parish.

Part of the Tilmanstone Tithe Map, showing the village and Dane Court

Kent Archaeological Society's website for tithe maps includes a good introductory article from Archaeologica Cantiana summarising the reasons, progress and outcomes of the project, which was an impressive achievement. There are also useful maps showing the dates of progress, the teams of surveyors and crop coverage.

Transcription of the 407 parish allocations was carried out by a small team of historians (east Kent mainly by Pat Tritton) and are shown on the KAS site which is downloadable easily into spreadsheets, and on Ted O'Connell's marvellous website.

The recalculated tithe continued to be a controversial charge, and effected Kent as analysed by John Bulaitis in his book The Tithe War 1881-1936.

"John described several disruptions caused by the tithe-payers throughout Kent. The movement of seized goods to commissioners’ farms was stopped and auctions took place at the farm where the tithe was owed. The tithe-payers then fixed the auction to ensure items were sold for much less than their worth. Tithe collectors sent men in to increase the bidding but they were sent packing being pelted by mud whilst others were dunked in cesspits etc. The press had a field day with headlines and reports making the collectors appear fools as the tithe payers outwitted them. In 1934 the Lord Chancellor reported that there were so many unexecuted orders that it was impossible to administer them in a reasonable time.

"In the end the government decided to collect the tithe through the tax system .The government secretly bought the system from the church at three and a half million pounds and managed to cover the sale with an seemingly private agency running it. The Tithe Act of 1936 allowed for the winding down of the tithe tax, to be ceased completely by 1996.  However, due to changes in agriculture when the inland revenue looked at the system in the 1970s, they found that it was costing more to administrate than they were collecting and the tithe was ceased."