Sentry Box In Northern Fort, Approximately 3 Metres North Of Hm Coastguard Lookout

BRIXHAM

SX95NW BERRY HEAD COUNTRY PARK, Berry Head 1946-1/2/12 Sentry box in northern fort, approx. 10/01/75 3m N of HM Coastguard lookout (Formerly Listed as: BERRY HEAD COMMON Berry Head Fort, Sentry Box)

GV II

Sentry box. c1780 or 1794-8. Coursed limestone rubble. Low pyramidal stone slab roof. Small octagonal building with 4 open-fronted, triangular recesses for sentries. 1 storey. The 4 plain doorways have flat limestone lintels. No windows, but a small square aperture in each of the stone partition walls links one sentry to another; these contain wooden frames, rebated as if for glass. Recesses have stone-flagged floors. The building has a projecting plinth and the stone roof-slabs project slightly in the manner of an eaves-cornice. Although the defences of the northern fort date from 1795-1804, a battery and magazine were established at the tip of Berry Head in 1770-80 during the American War of Independence. The magazine is probably of this date and the sentry box appears to relate to a blocked doorway in its north wall. (Exeter Museums Archaeological Field Unit Reports: Pye A R: Berry Head Fort, Brixham: 1990-: 21-22).

Listing NGR: SX9462256583