Barn About 20 Metres South East Of Tregascoe Farmhouse, With Attached Retaining Wall And Range Of Pigsties

This barn, with an attached retaining wall and a range of pigsties, is located about 20 metres south east of Tregascoe Farmhouse in Cornwall. It dates to circa 1830, with some later alterations.

The barn is constructed of granite rubble with granite dressings, and has a hipped slate roof with lead rolls to the hips. The plan is of a large rectangular barn with a cart shed and animal stalls (shippons) on the ground floor and a loft above. The barn is built into the hillside at the rear, with an entrance at a higher level. A wheelhouse containing an overshot waterwheel, once powered by a leat at the rear of the barn to drive grinding machinery, is attached to the right end. The retaining wall is attached to the front right, enclosing a yard, and a range of pigsties is attached to the front.

The front elevation is symmetrical with two storeys. The ground floor has a double-width doorway with a segmental granite arch and keystone, and single doorways to the right and left with cambered stone arches, each with a ventilation slit at the outer end. At the first floor, a central double-width loading door is set below a pentice, with single doors to the right and left, each with shutters and strap hinges, containing two lights under cambered stone arches with keystones. A datestone is positioned at first floor level in the centre. An external stone staircase leads to an upper doorway with a plank door and flat arch in dressed stone at the left end. A single window to the loft has shutters with strap hinges and a flat granite arch to the left. The wheelhouse has a hipped slate roof and openings on its side and front. An overshot wheel constructed of cast iron, with wooden floats and spokes, remains in situ. The original power was transferred from the main shaft to a secondary wheel, also in cast iron and cogged for a secondary drive. No grinding machinery remains within. At the rear, double doors are positioned at a higher level, also with a pentice, and two-light windows with shutters and cambered stone arches flank the doorway.

The attached retaining wall extends approximately 20 metres; the ground level is lower on the outer side and the wall is built of granite rubble with granite coping. A single-storey range of pigsties is attached at the end of the wall, using rubble construction with a rag slate roof, ridge tiles, and gable ends. Fire doorways, with granite lintels and plank doors (one blocked), face the yard, and the interior of the pigsty features stalls with slate partitions capped in timber, and a feeding passage along the rear with stone troughs.

Inside the barn, a cast iron wheel is positioned at the right end, taking a secondary gearing from the waterwheel. The interior was not inspected.