Torre Abbey

Richard I—the world’s greatest kidnapping….?

Dec 20, 2023

anniversaries, battles, buildings, religion, sources

Anjou, Austria, Berengaria, Blondel, Corfu, Crusades, Durnstein Castle, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Emperor Henry VI, excommunication, Fontevraud Abbey, Henry III. kidnapping, hostages, John, Leopold of Austria, Phillip Augustus, Pope, Richard I, Saladin, Torquay, Torre Abbey, William Brewer, William Stubbs

What links Richard I with Torquay? Well, it seems that when the king was captured and ransomed in Austria, one of those sent to negotiate for him was a certain very unpopular William Brewer, who was local to Torquay, a major landholder, administrator and judge in England during the reigns of Richard I, King John…
Give the Carys a Blue Plaque….!

Jul 23, 2023

anniversaries, battles, buildings, genealogy, religion

attainder, blue plaque, Cary family, Cockington, executions, exile, Henry IV, Henry V, Ireland, judges, Richard II, Sir Edward Seymour, Sir George Cary, Sir John Cary, Spanish Armada, Spanish Barn, Tewkesbury, Torbay Civic Society, Torquay, Torre Abbey

The above image is of the Spanish Barn at Torre Abbey, Torquay where George Cary and Sir Edward Seymour: “…..jointly took 400 prisoners during the Spanish Armada and some residents today know the men were imprisoned in what we still call ‘The Spanish Barn’. Torre Abbey estates were then purchased by the Cary family in…
Torquay and Torre Abbey

Jan 12, 2023

anniversaries, buildings, law, religion, travel

abbeys, Agatha Christie, Agatha Christie Mile, Babbacombe murder, Barons Hunsdon, Careys, Carys, crime, Dissolution of the Monasteries, First World War, Jacobites, museums, poisons garden, Premonstratensian order, priests, recusants, Royal Navy, the Green Ginger, The Legendary Ten Seconds, Torquay, Torquay Crime Museum, Torre Abbey, Viscounts Falkland

Thanks to our friends at the Legendary Ten Seconds, I had heard of Torre Abbey but didn’t realise that it was open to visit, as convenient or spectacular as it is. Half of the original building remains, on three floors including an art exhibition, whilst the other half (including the church) is a ruin, complete…
Torre Abbey, with the Legendary Ten Seconds

Nov 4, 2020

anniversaries, buildings, religion, travel

Agatha Christie, Agatha Christie Mile, Brixham, Devon, Dissolution of the Monasteries, Henry VIII, James VII/II, monasteries, Nottinghamshire, Pageant of Torbay, Torbay, Torquay, Torre Abbey, Welbeck Abbey, William III

This is another Legendary Ten Seconds production, principally about the ancient building in Torquay, but it is one track on an album about the wider history of Torbay. Torre Abbey, which dated from about 1096, was dissolved without significant resistance in 1539 and is principally an art gallery as well as part of the Agatha…

Torre Abbey

Richard I—the world’s greatest kidnapping….?

Give the Carys a Blue Plaque….!

Torquay and Torre Abbey

Torre Abbey, with the Legendary Ten Seconds