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Summary

Stone revetted ramparts with a deep dry moat infront form an enceinte around the west and north sides of the fort.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1021430: The Old Redoubt and later Victorian Rifle Range Target, 540m south west of Berry Head Fort
• Listed Building (II*) 1293272: RAMPARTS, COUNTERSCARP REVETMENT, GLACIS, MUSKETRY WALL OF SOUTHERN FORT

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX95NW/16/1
• Old Listed Building Ref (II)
• Tide Project: 01/12/2021
• Torbay HER: MTO20084

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• REDOUBT (Built, XVIII to XIX - 1794 AD (Between) to 1804 AD (Between))

Full description

County Borough of Torbay, 1967, Berry Head (Monograph). SDV362520.

The main rampart had 12 gun splays.

Department of Environment, 1975, Borough of Torbay, 4 (List of Blds of Arch or Historic Interest). SDV362418.

South-east redoubt at Berry Head. Three-sided redoubt with stone revetment and roll moulded string below embrasures. Largely overgrown. Established in Napoleonic Wars.

Pye, A.R., 1989, Berry Head Fort, Brixham. An Archaeological Assessment, 7, 34 (Report - Assessment). SDV362497.

The redoubt seems to have been completed by 1798. All the landward facing walls survive and are fronted by a dry moat

Pye, A.R. & Slater, W.D., 1990, Berry Head Fort, Brixham, An Archaeological Survey, 9-11, Figs 12-14, Pl. 4-6 (Report - Survey). SDV362493.

Three-sectioned stone revetted ramparts, forming a continuous enceinte, guard the west and north sides of Berry Head Common and the main approach to Fort No.3, approximately 300 metres in length. A 3.0 metre deep dry moat with steeply battered scarp and counterscarp stone revetments fronts the rampart itself. On the extreme south side the moat continues to the cliff edge.
The earth ramparts of the two west-facing sections have stone-faced revetments of roughly dressed rubble limestone - the quoins are dressed - and are circa 15 metres broad at the base; the total height from bottom of moat to the top of the parapet is circa 5.00 metres. Above on the southwest and northwest facing sections respectively are 12- and 7- splayed gun-embrasures in a stone-revetted parapet 4.0 metres wide and 1.3 metres high; a granite cordon runs below the level of the gun embrasures. The embrasures are made up of fully dressed limestone blocks; the gun platforms of granite moorstone replaced earlier timber ones by 1809. Between each gun platform there is an earthen infantry firing platform - banquettes and behind it a a 2.5-3 metre wide level terrace or terre-plein for access to the banquettes. The terre-pleins were protected by the rear slope of the rampart, or talus, with access by ramps at each end.
The northern rampart contains no gun embrasures but the the main entrance to the fort, which seems originally to have been via a drawbridge over the dry moat. Its width at the base is 3-5 metres with a similar stone revetment of limestone. Above, the parapet consists of a masonry wall 0.5 metres thick with walkways or firing platforms circa 1.5 metres wide and a rear wall 1.00 metre high. There are neither banquettes nor a terre-plein behind, the talus slopes striaght into the interior.

Historic England, 2021, National Heritage List for England, 1293272 (National Heritage List for England). SDV364016.

Ramparts, counterscarp revetment, glacis, musketry wall of southern fort. 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.
Its ramparts are 3-sided with 12 gun embrasures on the south-west side and 7 on the north-west side...
Encircling the ramparts is a deep, dry moat which extends to the cliff edge at either end
See listing description for further details.
Date first listed: 18th October 1949. Date of most recent amendment: 18th October 1993

Ordnance Survey, 2023, Mastermap 2023 (Cartographic). SDV365227.

Redoubt shown.

Timms, S., Unknown, Redoubt at Berry Head Southern Fort (Personal Comment). SDV364152.

The redoubt was cleared of vegetation and restored by a Borough Council MSC scheme in the late 1970s.

Sources / Further Reading

SDV362418	List of Blds of Arch or Historic Interest: Department of Environment. 1975. Borough of Torbay. Historic Houses Register. 4.
SDV362493	Report - Survey: Pye, A.R. & Slater, W.D.. 1990. Berry Head Fort, Brixham, An Archaeological Survey. Exeter Museums Archaeological Field Unit Report. EMAFU 90.10. Hardcopy + Digital. 9-11, Figs 12-14, Pl. 4-6.
	Linked documents:1
SDV362497	Report - Assessment: Pye, A.R.. 1989. Berry Head Fort, Brixham. An Archaeological Assessment. Exeter Museums Archaeological Field Unit. EMAFU 89.04. Hardcopy + Digital. 7, 34.
	Linked documents:1
SDV362520	Monograph: County Borough of Torbay. 1967. Berry Head. Berry Head. Paperback.
SDV364016	National Heritage List for England: Historic England. 2021. National Heritage List for England. Digital. 1293272.
SDV364152	Personal Comment: Timms, S.. Unknown. Redoubt at Berry Head Southern Fort. Not Applicable.
SDV365227	Cartographic: Ordnance Survey. 2023. Mastermap 2023. Ordnance Survey Digital Mapping. Digital. [Mapped feature: #128766 ]

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV7832 - Documentary research on the Berry Head Fort
• EDV7834 - Archaeological Assessment of the Berry Head Forts
• EDV7835 - Archaeological Survey of the Berry Head Forts

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