The Doomsday Survey of 1086 describes a hamlet of 28 subsistence farmers in the area where Nailsea is now located.  For some 700 years thereafter the low lying alluvial flood plain in this area was subject to extensive flooding in winter months.  As early as the 14th Century the community was large enough to need a church and Holy Trinity was built.  The Tithe Barn was built at about 1480 and was located adjoining the Church on one of the highest points of ground in the local area, over looking the flat and boggy surrounding moors.

Simply constructed from local stone, the barn still hold's it's beautiful original timbers.  Tithes (a share of local farm and livestock due to the Church) were collected and stored at the Tithe Barn for many centuries until they were commuted to monetary payments in the 18th Century.

Coal mining flourished locally for some 400 years.  Documents report that in 1507 Nailsea coal was being sold in nearby Yatton for the firing of lime kilns. The early shallow bell pits were replaced in the mid nineteenth century with deep mines.  Golden Valley Pit operated at a depth of six hundred and twenty feet (over twice the height of the Clifton Suspension Bridge or four times the height of Nelson's Column).

The availability of good coal supplies attracted glass making to Nailsea.  By the 1850's Nailsea boasted the fourth largest glass works in England, in its time regarded as one of the most significant glassworks in the UK,.  The fine work of skilled glass blowers resulted in a style which developed an international reputation as 'Nailsea' glass. Established in 1788, it operated until 1873, when it ceased production. The site then went through a long period of dereliction and piecemeal redevelopment. The last commercial coal mining in Nailsea ceased in 1882 in the face of strong competition from South Wales.. 

Hannah and Martha More first visited Nailsea in 1791 and were shocked by the level of poverty, depravity and lack of education they encountered amongst the industrial workers.  Their campaign resulted in Nailsea Tithe Barn being used as a school for the education of the children of the working class - a practice frowned upon by the wealthy property owners as it encouraged poor people to query the established social order.  Hannah More had a reputation as a poet and writer as well as a practical philanthropist.  She strongly supported William Wilberforce in his efforts to secure the abolition of slavery.  When she died in 1833 the school in Nailsea closed, but reopened under the National Schools Association of the Church of England.

The more recent history has seen it used as school premises up until 1973, when a new school building was developed close by.  Between 1973 and 2000 the buildings were used as a day centre for social services.  Since 2000 the Tithe Barn has provided community facilities to dozens of local clubs and organisations.

Poorly maintained by successive local councils the building is very 'tired' and in need of lots of love and attention.  The £1 million restoration project aims to restore it and in doing so protect it for the many generations to come.  Successive generations have played their part in developing the Tithe Barn over the last 500 years and it is incumbent on this generation to play it's part too.

Links:  Nailsea and District Local History Society