• Torquay will revive its Abbey habit this summer
    17/06/2008

    Torbay's oldest building, Torre Abbey, will re-open to visitors in July 2008 following a three-year, £6.5-million restoration project.

    The biggest surviving mediaeval monastery in Devon and Cornwall, the Abbey first took shape in 1196 when it was founded as a Premonstratensian Monastery, and today enjoys one of the finest seafront locations on the south west coastline.

    Able to boast the third largest art collection in Devon, the Abbey is now part-gallery, part-museum, and part-historic house.  On re-opening in July the property will, for the first time in its history, be open to the public all year round.  It will also offer its visitors the chance to explore one of the most fascinating areas of the property never previously seen by the general public – the evocative medieval undercrofts.

    Once the refectory for the abbey's White Canons (so called because of their distinctive white habits), the undercrofts will be accessed via a new entrance.  Inside, one of the first new displays that visitors will see is a slate grave slab in near-perfect condition featuring a curious carved design.  Dating from around 1300, the slab was uncovered during the excavations under the cloister walk, and would have covered the grave of one of the Abbey's Premonstratensian Canons.

    New exhibition areas will provide a clear insight into the life and times of the Canons who - governed by the strict rules of the order - led a life of great austerity.  General improvements to the fabric of the building have been made to improve the overall 'visitor experience'.

    The remarkable 122-roomed property rambles over 20 different levels, and houses not only a museum and art gallery, but also 800 years of atmospheric history…and at least one ghost!  Having become the wealthiest Premonstratensian monastery in England, it suffered the same fate as all others when in 1539 Henry VIII ordered its Dissolution.  It was bought by Sir George Cary in 1662, and remained in the Cary family until 1929 when it was bought by Torquay Corporation, now Torbay Council.

    The property even boasts a connection to the Olympic Games, having hosted the opening and closing ceremonies in its grounds for the XIV Olympiad's yachting events which were held in Torbay in 1948.

    The Abbey has welcomed countless visitors during the last eight centuries.  The medieval Canons were renowned for their hospitality, a tradition which continued with the Cary family to such an extent that it was even nicknamed 'The George Hotel'.  A temporary exhibition about the Cary family will also be a feature of the attraction when it re-opens in July…when 'hospitality' will become one of the key words in welcoming its 21st century visitors.

    The Spanish Barn, an ancient Tithe Barn in the grounds of the Abbey, currently houses an exhibition of the restoration project.

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