A tithe barn was a type of barn used in the Middle Ages for storing the tithes - a tenth of the farm's produce which had to be given freely to the church.
There are many surviving examples of medieval tithe barns in England:
There are still many examples of tithe barns around England.
... to a smaller extent by the slipping friction.
The device is covered by US patents 3,726,146 (1973) and 5,353,655 (1994) by L.A. Mishler and US patent 5,800,311 ...