Torre Abbey

Torre Abbey stands in Torquay on the south-west coast of England. Founded in 1196 as a Premonstratensian monastery, it is the best-preserved medieval monastery in Devon and Cornwall. The site includes the ruins of the church, standing cloisters from the 14th century, and a 15th-century gatehouse with a barrel-vaulted chapel. Formal gardens stretch across Abbey Park and Meadows, while the Spanish Barn recalls the holding of 397 Spanish prisoners in 1588. The abbey’s art collection is Devon’s third largest, with works by William Blake and the Pre-Raphaelites. The abbey’s history reflects power and change. By 1536 it was England’s wealthiest Premonstratensian house, but the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539 stripped it of its church and lead roofs. Sir Hugh Pollard leased the site the same year, and the surviving south and west ranges became a private house by 1598. The Cary family owned it from 1662 until 1930, when Torquay Borough Council bought the mansion and grounds. After a £6.5 million refurbishment it reopened in 2008 as a municipal art gallery. Visitors find medieval ruins beside Georgian interiors and a small 19th-century brewery. The Spanish Barn holds displays about its prisoner-of-war past. The art galleries show 19th-century paintings and the largest surviving collection by Victorian sculptor Frederick Thrupp. Contemporary exhibitions have featured Antony Gormley and Damien Hirst. St Michael’s Chapel on nearby Chapel Hill may once have belonged to the abbey.