The Tithe Barn was built in the early 14th century as part of the medieval farmstead belonging to Shaftesbury Abbey. Its function was to store the produce of the farm, and of the farms of the manor. Tenant farms contributed a tithe, meaning a tenth of their produce. King Ethelred gave the Manor of Bradford, including the monastery founded by St Aldhelm, to the Abbess of Shaftesbury in 1001. The barn is now owned and maintained by English Heritage.