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Torre Abbey was founded in 1196 as a monastery for Premonstratensian canons, and by 1536 was the wealthiest Premonstratensian house in England.
After the dissolution in 1539, it was turned into a house by one Thomas Ridgeway.
After that it had various owners until it was bought by the Cary family in 1662.
They owned it until 1930, when financial difficulties forced Commander Henry Cary to sell it to Torquay Borough Council, who turned it into a municipal art gallery.
In 2005 the Abbey closed in for an extensive £6.5 million restoration and reopened in July 2008.
It now claims the best-preserved medieval monastery in Devon and Cornwall, which doesn't say a lot for the others, as it takes a good deal of imagination to make sense of what little remains of the original buildings.
For details of opening times, ticket prices, etc. please go to the official site detailed below.