Description

BRIXHAM

SX95NW BERRY HEAD COUNTRY PARK, Berry Head
1946-1/2/17 Ramparts, counterscarp revetment,
18/10/49 glacis, musketry wall of southern
fort
(Formerly Listed as:
BERRY HEAD COMMON
South-east Redoubt)

GV II*

Formerly known as: Walls of redoubt SE of Berry Head Common
BERRY HEAD COMMON.
Defences of military redoubt. 1794-1804. Probably designed by
Lt-Col Alexander Mercer. Roughly coursed Devonian limestone
rubble with granite string course.
The redoubt occupies the southern promontary of the country
park and was designed to protect the landward approach to the
northern fort (qv). Its ramparts are 3-sided with 12 gun
embrasures on the south-west side and 7 on the north-west
side. Behind each embrasure is the sunken site of the gun
platform. No embrasures on the north side, which was protected
by the guns of the northern fort. The entrance, its features
now stripped out, is on this side; approached by an earthern
causeway, but said to have been a drawbridge here originally.
Encircling the ramparts is a deep, dry moat which extends to
the cliff edge at either end. On the rampart side is a steeply
sloping stone revetment wall, finishing in a rounded granite
string course below the gun embrasures. The other side of the
moat has an earth embankment with an almost vertical stone
revetment wall towards the moat and a gentle slope or glacis
on the outside. The southern, seaward, side of the fort is
mostly protected by steep cliffs, but at the western end a
stretch of stone rubble musketry wall survives.
The redoubt is usually referred to in learned publications as
the No.1 Fort. It is part of an extensive system of
fortifications erected on Berry Head following the outbreak of
war with France in 1793. It has been described as one of the
most complete surviving examples of purpose-built Napoleonic
fortifications in south-west England.
(Exeter Museums Archaeological Field Unit Reports: Pye A R:
Berry Head Fort, Brixham: 1990-: 9-11).

Listing NGR: SX9411256123

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17550083

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Central Leinster: Kildare, Laois and Offaly (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects by Harwood, Richard (2012) Paperback
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990: Updated version
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]