Torre Abbey is the largest art gallery in Devon.  Its collections have been mostly donated or bequeathed by local residents.

Pictures
The Abbey owns about 600 oils and water-colours from the 18th to the mid 20th centuries.  They include Pre-Raphaelite works of national standing, such as Holman Hunt's "The Children's Holiday" and Burne-Jones' drawings of "The Planets".  There are also water-colours by William Henry Hunt and Thomas Miles Richardson.

Applied Art
Includes small but good collections of 18th and 19th century English glass, silver and pewter.  The Brian Reade collection of Torquay and Watcombe terracottas attracts enthusiasts from all over the world.  It has been supplemented by donations from the Torquay Pottery Collectors Society, who keep their archive on the premises.

Sculpture
The collection of drawings, plaster casts and sculptures by Frederick Thrupp (1812-95) is the only collection of its kind to have survived.  It comprises works from throughout the artist's life and the contents of his studio.

Antiquities
A collection of moulded and sculptured stone from the medieval abbey is stored in the undercrofts.  It includes parts of several full-size effigies of knights and abbots which are of at least regional importance and need to be restored and displayed.

Social and local history
A small collection of manuscripts, portraits and some of the personal effects of crime-writer Agatha Christie is on loan from Mrs Rosalind Hicks, Agatha Christie's daughter.