Anti-tithe meeting at the “Great Heath” 1838. By Jackie Hyland The tithes were a church tax or levy on agricultural produce and livestock. From the middle ages, the church had received this levy, notionally one-tenth of earnings, for the support of the clergy. This tax sometimes collected in kind from agricultural produce had been converted into a cash payment calculated on the price of farm produce in different areas by the 19th century. The tithe applotment books, as they are called, exist for the civil parishes dating to the 1820s and 1830s. In fact, these books are a valuable genealogical research source. Following the Reformation in the 16th century, the…