The building of Berry Head House commenced in 1803. It was originally commissioned by the Board of Ordinance,  a British government body whose primary function was to act as custodian of the lands and forts required for the defence of the realm. It was built as a military hospital in support of the three Napoleonic war forts on Berry Head.

Fortunately, the hospital was never used for war casualties, as the predicted attack on England never came to fruition.

In 1823, being surplus to requirements of the military, it was leased to its builder Roger Hyne. In 1826 the building was sold to its most famous occupant, the Reverend Henry Francis Lyte, incumbent of All-Saints Church, Brixham. He named it Berry Head House.

Legend has it that, following the successful visit of King William III to celebrate the arrival in England of his predecessor, William of Orange in 1686, the King was so impressed with arrangements made by Reverend Lyte, together with the work in the area, that he gave Berry Head House and estate to him. An unlikely tale given the King's known parsimony.

In his early days at Berry Head the vicar supplemented his income by educating 'the wayward sons of nobility, one of whom was later to become Lord Salisbury, three times Prime Minister in the Victorian Era. 

Henry Francis Lyte was best known for his hymns. 'Praise my soul the King of Heaven' and his most famous 'Abide with Me' which he actually wrote in the grounds of the house just prior to his death in September 1847.

The house was passed to his daughter Mrs Hogg and remained in the family until 1949 when it was turned into a hotel.

The building was also home to the photographer Farnham Maxwell-Lyte. The cricketer , Evelyn George Martin, a guest of Lyte's family, lived at Berry Head between his school terms at Eton College.  A plaque was unveiled in May 2013 to commemorate Martin's time spent at the house

There are two Blue Plaques at the hotel to commemoirate both Reverend Lyte and also Commander Martin, who grew up into a man of derring do.

There are many legends surrounding the Berry Head Hotel building, linking it directly with Napoleon, which cannot be substantiated.

Entry Name: Berry Head Hotel

Listing Date: 18 October 1949

Last Amended: 18 October 1993

Grade: II

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1293258

English Heritage Legacy ID: 383532

(Formerly Listed as: Berry Head House Hotel BERRY HEAD ROAD)

Military hospital; later a private house, now a hotel. 1809-10; late C20 additions to north. Devonian limestone rubble.

Hipped slated roof. Main building U-shaped with ranges to north, east, and west. Also 2 smaller buildings to south of east and west ranges, probably linked to the main building originaly. The entrance was probably through the west side, between the 2 sections of the west range.

2 storeys. 9-window front to north, the end windows set in shallow projections. 7-window fronts to east and west. Windows have flat lintels of3 limestone vous soirs. Late C20 windows in west range and north range.  East range retains some original 6-paned sashes. Simple stepped top-cornice; low parapet with flat coping.

(Exeter Museums Archaeological Field Unit Reports: Pye AR: Berry Head Fort, Brixham: 90.10: 1990-P.7;

Gregory C: Brixham in Devonia: Totnes: 1896-:P.48).

If you walk around the seaward side of the hotel into the gardens you can see the retaining walls from the original building of the hospital under the Berry Head forts.