Torquay

Torquay, a watering-place of South Devon, occupying a cove on the north side of Tor Bay, 23 miles S. of Exeter and 220 WSW. of London. Tor Abbey was founded here for Premonstratensian monks in 1196; and Tor Bay is famous in history as the place where in 1688 William of Orange landed at Brixham (q.v.), and during the war with France was often used as a naval rendezvous. But till the beginning of the 19th century Torquay itself was little more than an assemblage of fishermen's huts. About that time the advantages of its climate—which are a peculiarly sheltered position, an equable temperature (mean 44° in winter, 55° in summer), and freedom from fogs—caused it to be resorted to by consumptive patients, and it soon acquired a European celebrity, which still is almost unrivalled. The romantic hills and valleys of Torquay and its environs have been overspread with terraces, villas, and gardens, the luxuriance of its foliage being a delightful feature of this 'queen of English watering-places.' The scenery is as varied as it is beautiful, the geology of the district most interesting; and Kent's Cavern (q.v.) is only a mile distant. The remains of the abbey include some crypts and the 13th-century 'Spanish barn' (so called from its having housed some survivors from the Armada); and St Michael's Chapel, on a hill-top, is thought to have been connected with the abbey. St John's Church, by Street, is a striking Early English edifice; and other buildings are the town-hall (1852), museum (1875), and theatre (1880). Torquay is a great yachting station; its chief industries are the working up of Devonshire marbles and the manufacture of terra-cotta. Pop. (1851) 7903; (1881) 24,767; (1891) 25,534. See J. T. White's History of Torquay (1878).