Cargoll Bishops Palace, St Newlyn East

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Cargoll Farm Barn

In the civil parish of St Newlyn East.
In the historic county of Cornwall (Modern Authority of Cornwall, 1974 county of Cornwall).

Late C14. Killas rubble stonework with ashlar dressings. Corrugated asbestos roof replacing thatch. Plan: 7-8 bays, buttressed on east side and south end. Later subdivided into calf pens on lower floor, and grain store above. Ramp entrance to upper floor in 6th bay on west side. Buttresses with two offsets to each truss, but wider simpler buttresses square to south gable at corners, the west buttress built into later structures. North gable end rebuilt reducing last surviving bay to quarter the original width. Probably Some rebuilding of west wall, removing buttresses. Interior: Raised base cruck trusses to each bay, with blades 41 x 10am supporting square set arcade plates, but outer section tenoned to extension rafters to diagonally set ridge. Cambered collars with dropped centres stopping knee braces, all chamfered on lower arrises. Lower purlins tenoned to blades, upper purlins clasped above straight collars to extension rafters. Trusses set at 2.4m bay centres, each bay divided by intermediate trusses comprising raised base crucks and extension rafters with collars only. Long curved windbraces to each bay. Total span 5,9m, length now approx 15.25m. A rare and important building, being the only survival of the medieval palace of the Bishops of Exeter on this site, purchased by Bishop Walter Bronescombe 'the Goode' in 1269, amd held by the bishopric until 1804. A grant of a Thursday market was given in 1312. No evidence of the large prison noted by Tonkin in the C19 survives. Emery writes this barn of a manor brought by Bronescombe, but excludes it from his list of residential manors.

This site has been described as a Palace a high status manor house. That is a fundamentally domestic building of a high status person usual a bishop or member of the royal family. Usually more elaborate that a fortified manor but a small bishops palace, such as the one at Lyddington might be quite modest compared to a large fortified manor. All these high status building had some fortifications, if only to keep out thieves, but were probably not seen, even by the contemporary people, as being military buildings. Included in this definition, for the purposes of this site, are Royal hunting lodges. These could vary from sizable buildings, even castles, with courts and gaols to simple timber building providing short term accommodation.

The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Questionable.
Nothing visible remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.
This site is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 63970)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SW81945638

Modern Map from

Good for landscape form and features

Modern Map from

Good for general location

Air Photo from

1st edition OS Map from

Sources of information, references and further reading

PastScape

Books
- Emery, Anthony, 2006, Greater Medieval Houses Vol3 (Cambridge) p551n14
Journal Articles
- Alcock and Barley, 1972, Antiq Journal p132
  Jope, E.M., 1961, Studies in Building History

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