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Brixham Berry Head Walk

1.86 miles (3 km)

Ordnance Survey Map Open Streetmap Berry Head Country park is an internationally acclaimed heritage site and National Nature Reserve. It is home to an abundance of coastal wildlife and includes recently restored Napoleonic War fortifications. Look out for lots of interesting flora and fauna including White Rock-Rose, Honewort, Small Hare's Ear, Restharrow and Goldilock's Aste. There is also a large Guillemot colony on the cliffs.
This walk takes you to Berry Head and Shoalstone Point on the coast, before crossing Berry Head Common.
The park is located in Brixham and is a short walk from the harbour or there are parking facilities at Berry Head.
To extend your walk head south along the South West Coast Path to the lovely Sharkham Point Nature Reserve. Here you can enjoy great views of St Mary's Bay and look out for dolphins in the water below.
You could also try the popular Paignton to Brixham Walk which visits a series of pretty beaches and secluded coves.

Postcode

TQ5 9AP - Please note: Postcode may be approximate for some rural locations

Please click here for more information

Berry Head Country Park OS Map Ordnance survey map - Mobile GPS OS Map with Location tracking

Berry Head Country Park Open Street Map Open Streetmap - Mobile GPS Map with Location tracking

Pubs/Cafes

The excellent Guardhouse Café is wonderfully located right on the headland. The building has an interesting history having been completed in 1802 and used by the troops defending the fortress. Inside the café you can still see part of the tunnel system which was built inside the fort all those years ago. There's lots of outdoor seating where you can enjoy a cream tea with magnificent coastal views on a warm day.

Dog Walking

The headland is a great place for a dog walk though there is some livestock around so it's best to keep them on leads in these areas.

Further Information and Other Local Ideas

If you continue south along the coast path from Brixham you will soon come to the splendid gardens at Coleton Fishacre. The National Trust property includes a 1920s Art Deco house surrounded by well laid out footpaths with coastal views.
For more walking ideas in the area see the Devon Walks page.

Photos

Berry Head - geograph.org.uk - 1268589

The headland seen from the clifftop near the southern fort, with part of the west fortification of the main fort visible.

Berry Head - geograph.org.uk - 944824

Berry Head has a wonderful array of flowers which supports 28 species of butterfly and a huge range of other insects.

Bunker on Berry Head - geograph.org.uk - 1098448

Bunker on Berry Head. A remnant of the cold war, this entrance and ventilation structure is the above ground part of a Royal Observer Corps bunker that would have been used to monitor and report radioactive fall-out following a nuclear attack.

Berry Head lighthouse - geograph.org.uk - 1776553

Lighthouse

Fortifications, Berry Head - geograph.org.uk - 944992

Fortifications. One of the cannons at North Fort.

Marker at Berry Head - geograph.org.uk - 750316

Marker detailing the sites you can see from the headland. These include Sharkham Point, Cod Rock, Durl Rock, Oxley Head and Paignton

Southern Fort, Berry Head - geograph.org.uk - 1268563

Southern Fort. The ruins of the magazine and the guardhouse within the southern and smaller of the two forts built between 1795 and 1805. The magazine, on the left, is surrounded by a blast wall, and is itself lined with brick within the limestone.

Navigational aid, Berry Head - geograph.org.uk - 1269008

Navigational aid, Berry Head. It forms part of the UK Air Traffic system provided by the National Air Traffic Services to allow safe, orderly and expeditious movement of civil aviation within the UK Flight Information Region. DVOR stands for Doppler VHF Omni-directional Range.

Video

GPS Files

GPX File

Berry Head Country Park.gpx (On Desktop:Right Click>Save As. On Ipad/Iphone:Click and hold>Download Linked File)

Memory Map Route

Berry Head Country Park.mmo (On Desktop:Right Click>Save As. On Ipad/Iphone:Click and hold >Download Linked File)