Tithes

Tithes were an old form of taxation primarily to fund The Church. It was usually taken in the form of goods, being 1 tenth of all produce which would be stored in a Tithe Barn. Later this became payable to The Manor, but by 1823 when the parish of Princes Risborough was enclosed much of it had ceased to operate.

However it appears that some was still in existence after that as signified in The Tithe Commutation Act of 1836. It would appear that as the land went into private hands, the tithe was to be paid to the new freehold owners. As a result of that Act the owners of the Parish Woodlands and the Common of Princes Risborough, which had had to be purchased rather than allotted, had later registered their property to extinguish the tithe by which they had in effect had to pay themselves.