Parliament of Great Britain |
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| Statute book chapter | 6 & 7 Will 4 c 71 |
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| Dates | |
| Royal Assent | 13 August 1836 |
| Status: Amended | |
The Tithe Commutation Act of 1836 (6 & 7 Will 4 c 71) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom with the long title "An Act for the Commutation of Tithes in England and Wales". It replaced the ancient system of payment of tithes in kind with monetary payments. It is especially noted for the maps which were produced as a side effect of the valuation process which the change entailed.
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Tithes were originally paid as one tenth of the produce of the land (crops, eggs, cattle, timber, fishing, etc.) to the rector as alms and for payment for his services. The tithes were often stored in a tithe barn attached to the parish. After the dissolution of the monasteries some of the land in question, having passed out of church ownership, had tithes paid to private landlords. Enclosure acts made further modifications in the pattern, either by abolishing tithe payments entirely or replacing them with monetary payments. Various other arrangements also replaced payment in kind, though not systematically.
By the time of the Act there was considerable discontent over payment of tithes, most notably in the form of the Tithe War of 1831-1836 in Ireland.
The act substituted a variable monetary payment (referred to as the "corn rent") for any existing tithe in kind. This payment was originally calculated on the basis of a seven-year average price of wheat, barley, and oats, with each grain contributing an equal part to the total. Prices were determined nationally. Parcels where tithes had already been commutated were unaffected, as initially were Ireland and Scotland. Some land was free of tithe obligation, due to barrenness, custom, or prior arrangement.
A commission was established to identify all affected properties and to resolve boundary issues arising from the survey. It was headed by three commissioners:
Valuation of current tithes could be worked out by the parties, or in the absence of an agreement, by the commission.
As the commission's first step was to identify affected properties, a set of surveys was made to produce maps in areas affected by the act. The initial intent was to produce maps of the highest possible quality, but the expense (incurred by the landowners) led to the provision that the accuracy of the maps would be testified to by the seal of the commissioners, and only maps of suitable quality would be so sealed. In the end, about one sixth of the maps had seals. A map was produced for each "tithe district", that is, one region in which tithes were paid as a unit. These were often distinct from parishes or townships. Areas in which tithes had already been commutated were not mapped, so that coverage varied widely from county to county. The maps indicated parcels and buildings, assigning each a number.
Associated with each map was an apportionment, in the form of a table with an entry for each map item by number. For each entry the owner, tenant, area, name or description, state of cultivation, rent charge payable, and the tithe owner was listed. A preamble gave the name of the tithe owner, the circumstances under which tithes were owed, and the whether the apportionment was subject to an agreement worked out among the parties, or was being imposed by the Crown.
The surveying was carried out expeditiously, with the majority of the work performed by 1841, and largely completed by 1851. In some cases amendments had to be filed as properties were divided or other circumstances intervened. The work was also complicated by numerous irregularities in the way tithes were assessed. For example, timber might or might not include standing trees, branches, acorns, mast, and even charcoal. Variations as to the circumstances of tithe-paying were also considerable.
Three copies of each map and apportionment were made. The original copy was kept by the national archives; the other two copies were deposited with the local diocesan registrar and parish. (Many of the latter copies have been transferred to local archives.) These maps and apportionments are often used as references by genealogists and other historical researchers.
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