Higher Eggbeer is a working slice of Devon at Cheriton Bishop, west of Exeter and right on the edge of Dartmoor, with views that run uninterrupted across the countryside towards the moor. Take the whole farm and you get the buildings, the grounds, the pool and the tennis court, and because there is almost no light pollution out here the stargazing after dark is properly good — a small thing that turns out to matter a great deal at 11 at night with a drink in your hand.
The Party Barn is the main event: a rustic, generous space with handcrafted banquet tables, atmospheric lighting and a bar and lounge attached. It seats up to 140 for dinner and opens up to around 200 in the evening, though smaller weddings are very much the norm here and the room takes them happily. Next to it, the Chapel Barn is the quieter counterweight — candles, fairy lights, stained glass and old beams — used for ceremonies and then repurposed through the day as a lounge, a cinema room or somewhere to park the children. Ceremonies also happen outside beneath a cedar tree, with fairy lights and uplighters through the trees and pathways once the evening comes in.
Around all this the farm behaves rather like a very good house party. There is a heated outdoor pool kept somewhere between 26 and 28 degrees, an astroturf tennis court, a games room with a pool table and table tennis, a sauna and a fire pit. Farmhouse accommodation on site keeps the core of the party in place overnight, catering is your own choice, and you can bring your own drink or have the bar stocked for you. The whole farm is exclusively yours, which is the point — this is a venue built around staying rather than visiting.
Where the band plays
Unusually and very helpfully, the Party Barn has a stage built in for a band or a DJ, so there is no debate about where the music goes or whether the floor will take it. The venue is proud of the acoustics and with good reason: stone, timber and height are exactly what a live act wants, and a band can play with real dynamics here rather than pushing to be heard. A four- or five-piece is the usual fit. What farm buildings rarely have is generous power at the stage end, so it is worth asking what is actually available at the stage rather than assuming, and passing the answer on when you book.
How the day and the evening run
The two-act shape works beautifully here. An acoustic set outside while the light holds over the moor, then the full band in the barn once everyone has come in, gives the day two distinct moods without any awkward silence in between. Evenings have run to midnight and sometimes to 11pm, with a licence that stretches later still, so confirm your own finish time and build the running order back from it.
One last practical point, and it is a real one: the lanes on the Dartmoor edge are narrow and unlit. Give your band clear directions rather than a postcode, and get the van and trailer in during daylight wherever the timings allow.
Bands available in Devon and perfectly at home in a venue like this.
More live music in Devon.
- Devon Wedding Bands
- Events Bands in Devon
- Tribute Acts in Devon
- Devon Wedding DJs
- Corporate Entertainment in Devon
Worth reading before you book: First Dance Guide. More questions answered on our England & Wales FAQs.