Torre Abbey Restoration Project

Tender description

Torbay Council is seeking a construction contractor with experience in Grade I / II, conservation, and heritage restoration for a restoration project at Torre Abbey. Torre Abbey is located, most unusually for a medieval monastery, on the seafront and is part of the Belgravia Conservation Area in Torquay. It comprises two Grade I listed buildings, four Grade II listed structures and ancillary buildings, an undesignated formal walled garden, all set in a Scheduled Ancient Monument, 17.8ha in extent (NHLE No. 1009302). The surrounding parkland contains earthworks and the remains of the abbey’s precinct buildings, including a mill, stables, two watercourses (still flowing), and evidence of 18th / 19th century landscaping. Exposure of this history, and its interpretation, will be a vital part of the landscape work in this third phase, reconnecting the abbey with its wider setting towards the seafront. Torre Abbey today is the most complete medieval monastery in Devon and Cornwall, and one of the best-preserved Premonstratensian houses in the UK. Torre Abbey is one of four publicly owned art galleries in Devon. The Spanish Barn is the only surviving prison for sailors of the Spanish Armada, which in 1588 united the country against Catholic Europe (hence its name). Following the programmes of work in 2006 and 2011 much of the fabric has been repaired, and its condition secured for several decades to come. However, the poor state of remaining elements of the building imply risk and accelerating decline as leaking continues into fabric. The following sections of building remain of concern, and form the basis of the repair project: • elevations of the south-east and south-west wings • north elevation of west range • gatehouse – these repair works have been postponed from previous phases of repair work and are now necessary to conserve the historic fabric and halt serious deterioration • courtyard boundary walls Keywords: Restoration, Torre Abbey, Construction, Scheduled Monument, Historic Restoration