Cargoll Farm Barn

Cargoll Farm Barn is a late 14th-century barn constructed from Killas rubble stonework with ashlar dressings, featuring a corrugated asbestos roof that has replaced the original thatch. The barn has a plan consisting of 7 to 8 bays, with buttresses on the east side and south end. It has been later subdivided into calf pens on the lower floor and a grain store above. There is a ramp entrance to the upper floor located in the sixth bay on the west side.

The buttresses have two offsets for each truss, while the wider, simpler buttresses at the corners of the south gable are square. The west buttress is integrated into later structures. The north gable end has been rebuilt, reducing the last surviving bay to a quarter of its original width, and there is likely some rebuilding of the west wall that involved removing buttresses.

Inside, the barn features raised base cruck trusses in each bay, with blades measuring 41 x 10 cm supporting square set arcade plates. The outer sections are tenoned to extension rafters that lead to a diagonally set ridge. Cambered collars with dropped centers stop knee braces, all of which are chamfered on the lower edges. The lower purlins are tenoned to the blades, while the upper purlins are clasped above straight collars to the extension rafters. The trusses are spaced at 2.4 meters apart, with each bay divided by intermediate trusses that consist of raised base crucks and extension rafters with collars only. Long curved windbraces are present in each bay, giving a total span of 5.9 meters and an approximate length of 15.25 meters.

This barn is a rare and important structure, being the only surviving remnant of the medieval palace of the Bishops of Exeter on this site. The site was purchased by Bishop Walter Bronescombe, known as 'the Goode', in 1269 and remained with the bishopric until 1804. A grant for a Thursday market was issued in 1312. There is no evidence remaining of the large prison noted by Tonkin in the 19th century. The barn is also designated as a Scheduled Ancient Monument in Cornwall.