The intergranular thermal residual stresses in texture-free solid polycrystalline beryllium were determined by comparison of crystallographic lattice parameters in solid and powder samples measured by neutron diffraction during cooling from 800 degrees C. The internal stresses are not significantly different front zero >575 degrees C and increase nearly linearly <525 degrees C. At room temperature, the c axis of an average grain is under similar to 200 MPa of compressive internal stress, and the a axis is under 100 MPa of tensile stress. For comparison, the stresses have also been calculated using an Eshelby-type polycrystalline model. The measurements and calculations agree very well when temperature dependence of elastic constants is accounted for, and no plastic relaxation is allowed in the model.