For more than 80 years, Brandy Head Observation Post has stood sentinel over the cliffs at Stantyway Farm.

Opened in 1940, the building was the range observation post for the top secret Gunnery Research Unit, based at RAF Exeter.

Here at Stantyway Farm, the renowned Professor Sir Bennett Melvill Jones perfected a revolutionary aircraft gunnery sight, which helped ensure allied air superiority on D-Day

The Observation Post has always been an important landmark and a popular rest stop for walkers on the South West Coast Path, which runs past the front of the building. In recent years this iconic building was becoming derelict and in danger of being lost.

In 2020 we restored the building in partnership with our landlords, Clinton Devon Estates, and are offering basic but comfortable accommodation to walkers and anyone who would like to stay there. Facilities for passers-by have been much improved with better benches, more information about the building's history and a mains water tap. These are freely available for users of the South West Coast Path and will always remain that way.

For more information about staying at the Observation Post please click here

For information about the Gunnery Research Unit and Professor Melvill Jones please see the South West Airfields Heritage Trust's website. The SWAHT were key historical consultants in our 2020 restoration.

In 2019 we engaged MRM Design Studio to create a sensitive and appropriate planning application to restore the building. The Observation Post is a prominent landmark on a UNESCO World Heritage Coast and we wanted the restoration to be as sympathetic as possible.

MRM employed a drone camera to film their work at this stunning location. For an idea of the surroundings, and to see what the building looked like when semi-derelict, please click here