Beach Babies’ pre-schoolers visited the Tithe Barn, in Landbeach, this morning to help sow some wheat seed.

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The children helped Alan Shipp, Tithe Barn Trust trustee and retired farmer, and they plan to return to the barn in the summer and thresh the crop.

Gemma O’Shea, Tithe Barn Trust chairman, said: “The Tithe Barn reflects the agricultural heritage of the Fen edge villages and is an important part of our local community history.

“Tithe barns hint at a different side of history, not just the story of the wealthy.

“The tithe barn would have been used to store taxes, a tenth of all crops to the church, the contributions being stacked in the barn for winter threshing and storage.

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The Tithe Barn Trust is a small charity and volunteer not-for profit group aiming to save and restore the Grade II Listed Tithe Barn, in Landbeach, for community use.

She added: “We’ve just submitted a major grant application for almost £400,000. We’re keeping our fingers crossed, but the more pledges and donations we receive from the community, the more likely our grant applications will be successful and the dream of restoring the Tithe Barn will be realised.

“Through our project we plan to not only save and sensitively restore the unique and rare Tithe Barn, but bring new life to this disused historic building.

“We aim to open the barn to a wider audience and tell its story. If successful with our fundraising quest we will improve the access track so that the barn is accessible for all, including those with disabilities.

“We’ll be holding further public consultation to finalise the end use of the barn. However, we envisage the future of the barn may include schools and education visits, public open days, functions such as wedding ceremonies, film and photo shoot location hire and community events such as farmers markets.

Visit www.tithebarntrust.org.uk for more information.