Weekly guided tours of Torre Abbey tracing its 800-year history, from a medieval monastery to the family estate of the Carys.
Torre Abbey is running guided tours every Thursday from 3 September to 17 December, led by house guide John Melsher. They're called From Canons to Carys, and they trace the Abbey's 800-year story from its start as a medieval monastery to its years as a family estate, and finally to the gallery and museum it is today.
The Abbey was founded in 1196, when an abbot and six Premonstratensian canons arrived from Welbeck Abbey in Nottinghamshire on land gifted by the Lord of the Manor, William Brewer. It's now an Ancient Scheduled Monument and an English Riviera UNESCO Global Geopark Key Site, set in 18 acres of garden and parkland. The Cary family lived there for centuries and once invited Horatio Nelson to a dinner party — a scene that's later been recreated in the Dining Room.
Beyond the house, there's the 800-year history gallery, which holds over 600 works from the 18th century to the present. The award-winning garden gathers herbaceous perennials, roses and dahlias alongside Palm and Cactus Houses and the Potent Plants Garden, which celebrates the area's most famous resident, Agatha Christie.
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The tours run every Thursday morning and afternoon, with slots at 10:30am, 12:00pm, 1:30pm and 3:00pm. Entry is included with normal Abbey admission, so you can fit one in and then spend the rest of the day in the gardens. You'll find Torre Abbey on The Kings Drive, Torquay, Devon, TQ2 5JE.
