Barn, Calf House And Linhay Approximately 2 Metres South Of Higher Shilstone Farmhouse

A barn, calf house, and linhay, likely dating to the 17th century, stand approximately 2 metres south of Higher Shilstone Farmhouse. The buildings are constructed of granite stone rubble with large dressed quoins, some cob on the wall tops; the barn and pigsties have corrugated iron roofs, while the linhay has slate.

The buildings form a range built end to end, facing the farmyard to the north and following a steep hillslope. The barn, situated at the eastern end and downhill end, is gable-ended with opposing central doorways leading to the threshing floor. A nearly full-height front doorway contains double doors, the right one divided into flaps, set within a solid timber frame, and is protected by a short eaves hood. A smaller rear door is also present. The left end wall has a series of ventilation slits. Inside, the barn has a 6-bay roof with A-frame trusses featuring pegged lap-jointed collars. The timber baulks of the threshing floor are decayed.

The calf house sits between the barn and the linhay and is a low building containing three stalls and a small hayloft in the roofspace. A loading hatch is positioned at the left end, alongside the left stall door. The right and centre stalls are wider than the left, with the roof pitch continuing over them, creating a forward projection. Each stall has a separate doorway.

The linhay, at the uphill right end, had its front boarded around 1985, but the original open-fronted structure remains behind. It comprises four bays. Crossbeams supporting the hayloft rest on monolithic granite posts, and timber posts rise through the hayloft with curved heads, lap-jointed to the front principals of A-frame trusses with pegged lap-jointed collars.

All roofs are gable-ended, and doors are of plain 19th-century joinery. These traditional Dartmoor farmbuildings form a group with Higher Shilstone Farmhouse and stables, and the dung pit, and are considered of immense importance due to the farmhouse's status as one of the best surviving examples of a Dartmoor longhouse.