Short Description of Torre Abbey-Hugh Robert Watkin

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1:00Preface and introduction to a short description of Tor Abbey, Tor Key Devonshare. This is a Librivox recording. All Librivox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit Librivox.org. Recording by Garth Burton. A short description of Tor Abbey, Tor Key Devonshare By Hugh Robert Watkin. Preface and introduction. Preface. The cost of a third edition of this book has again been defraided by the owner of Tor Abbey in order that the entire proceeds of sale may benefit the Tor Bay Hospital. Further excavation in 1911, following suggestions made by the Reverend DHS Cranage and others, which the author, Cordelia Technologies, resulted in the discovery of another entrance into the nave

2:03of the church from the Garth, the foundation of the wood screen and cannon stalls, and an internment with niche for effigy in the wall of North Isle. The examination of the ditch on the north side of the church was completed and a building adjoining the northwest corner of the church located. The foundations of the daughter forming the East Wing were traced, and the level of the Chapter House floor definitely established by the discovery of two tiles in situ at a greater depth than had Hivvatu been suspected. The foundation of the North Cloister was found at one spot, which gave the width of the covering of this side of the Garth, which Hivvatu had been found impossible to trace. The sites of the missing gatehouses were also examined. All these details have been inserted in the revised plan, the explanatory text corrected and added to, and the author once more,

3:05acknowledges with gratitude the debt the public owes to Colonel Carey for his zealous care of and interest in the site of the Primond's Retention Abbey of Tor. 1st edition August 1907 2nd edition September 1909 3rd edition July 1912 Hummersknot, Chelston, July 1912 Introduction Tor Abbey Devonshire was founded by William Brewer in the year 1196 for cannons of the Primond's Retention Order. The Abbey was surrendered to King Henry VIII on 25 April 1539, when the Wevenew was returned as 396 pounds and 11 pence net. Approximating 8,000 pounds present value,

4:05the largest income of any of the 31 Abbey's and two nunneries owned by the Primond's Retention Order in England and Wales at the time of the dissolution. In 1543, Henry VIII granted the Abbey to his favourite John St. Ledger, who sold it the same year to Sir Hugh Pollard. In 1580, Sir Hugh Pollard's grandson conveyed the property by deed to Sir Edward Seymour of Berry Pomeroy. In 1599, Thomas Ridgeway, ancestor of the Earls of London Dairy, bought the whole estate. In 1653, Sir John Stole of Buffy Tracy bought part of the estate, including Tor Abbey. In 1662, the Abbey ruins were purchased by Sir George Carey of New Park Hampshire in the hands of whose descendants it has remained. William Brewer was descended from Rdophus de Breweria,

5:09who held six manners as one of the followers of Baldwin of Exeter, one of William the Conqueror's generals. He had one son, William Brewer the younger, who died childless and was buried in the Chancellor of Tor Abbey Church, and five daughters. The founder of Tor Abbey was the trusted supporter of four English kings, Henry II, Richard I, John, and Henry III, and after taking a prominent part in the history of England, retired to the sister-shant Abbey of Duncan's well, founded by himself five years after Tor, and in 1227 was buried before the High Ulta. The Primond's retention order was founded by Norbert, son of Heurybert, Count of Jean-Nep in 1120. The first house was established near Lone, 75 miles northeast of Paris, on a spot foreshown by the Virgin Mary in a vision to Norbert.

6:13From the Fringe Primond's tray and Latin Primond's stratum, the name of the order is derived. St Norbert died in 1134 and was buried at Magdaburg, which Bishop Brick he had held for 14 years, in the year 1582 St Norbert was canonised by Pope Gregory the 13th. In 1627 his remains were translated to the Primond's retention abbey of Starrhau near Prague. At the end of the 15th century, it was computed that no less than 2,000 Abbey's and Nunuis in Europe acknowledged the head of the order at Primond's tray. There were 21 abbots of Tor, in the year 1500 the community numbered besides the abbot, 11 priests, two deacons and four novitiates. The present abbot general is Norbert Martin Scharginger, abbot of Schlagel Abbey in

7:15higher Austria. There are nine Abbey's in Austria, seven in Belgium and one in Holland. In England there are, at present, three houses founded by the Belgian abbot of Tongalou at Crowle and Spolding in Lincolnshire, and in Varley Street, Manchester, where the English head of the order abbot Peter Franz's Goudon resides. There are also two smaller establishments at Stoentern in Sussex and at Bedworth in Wohichshire, founded by cannons expelled from France. The first abbot established in England in 1146 was a new house in Lincolnshire of which not even the name remains. Wellbeck Abbey was the recognised chief house of the order in England. Tor Abbey was colonised from this house by the first abbot Adam and six cannons and was the 23rd Primond's detention abbot built in England. With the possible exception of Wendling in Norfolk,

8:18all the 33 houses were built within a period of 85 years, 1146 to 1231. During the subsequent 300 years preceding the dissolution, none was added. The 716 years during which this site has been known as Tor Abbey may be divided into two periods. The 343 years during which the buildings were occupied by the Primond's detention cannons and the subsequent 373 years as a private residence. End of Prefis and Introduction Section 1 of a short description of Tor Abbey by Hugh Robert Watkin. This Libri Rocks recording is in the public domain. Illustrated Guide to Tor Abbey

9:19The Entrance The approach to Tor Abbey from Newton Abbot or the northside was formally by a much longer drive than at present, along what is now the Avenue Road. The entrance gates to which were at the junction of the Avenue with the Old Mill Road. At the present entrance to the grounds of Tor Abbey are two modern lodges. The first stands on the site of a former pond, chiefly remembered by old inhabitants as the culminating scene of the annual Easter Monday-Revel when what is called the ducking of the Lord Mayor took place and a generally very inebriated Lord of Miss Rule finished his short term of office in the pond. This was probably a very old custom in connection with the celebration of Hope Tide when tossing or hocking as it was termed was indulged in. Hope Day, Easter Monday, was one of the two days appointed in the air for the payment of tribute and later tithes for the reparation of churches,

10:26the other term being the day of Sarmann November the 2nd. It is possible, therefore, that at one time those who failed to produce the Abbot's Jews at Hope Tide were thus reminded of their obligations by his bailiffs. This may have been the origin of a custom which the filling in of the pond long after the departure of the Abbot's has thus brought to an end. The second lodge is built in the line of the original boundary wall which terminates on our left after passing the gates. With the exception of an old drawing made in the year 1662 when Sir George Carey of New Park purchased the domain from John Stowell 123 years after the dissolution and destruction of the Abbot, history throws no light upon the position and extent of the buildings. The two missing gatehouses.

11:28Leeland in the way in a king hen with the eighth wrote an itinerary or account of his travels in which as a brief mention of this district he probably rested at Tor as he evidently visited the Abbot Church and wrote in his diary in this priori be three fair gatehouses. Only one of these gatehouses stands today. The site of the other two has long been a subject for conjecture as nothing now above ground indicates their position. As a result of recent investigation it has been ascertained that when the boundary wall between the Abbey grounds and the King's Drive was built in 1877 the workmen found old foundations of cross walls in two places. So little was known then about the original buildings that, beyond marvelling at the toughness of the masonry, which, at these two spots, was partly utilized to carry the present wall,

12:30little notice was taken of the discovery and it is only now after the extensive excavations recently made in the west of the grounds and the knowledge thus gained of the general plan that we are confident that these old foundations, X and XX in the plan, marked the sites of the two missing gatehouses. In the spring of 1911 excavation disclosed the strong foundations of the one gatehouse at X 25 feet from the end of and in a line with the existing old wall. The foundations apparently run right under what is now the King's Drive. At X X evidence of a building, probably a large shed and a wall in which is incorporated part of a granite cider mill were found. A graveled pathway at seven feet six inches below the level of the foot entrance of the modern gatehouse was also uncovered. If any trace of foundations of this gatehouse

13:34exist, they are out a considerable depth and under the large trees which render excavation difficult if not impossible. The moat, condit and drain. On the left hand as we enter the grounds between a row of elm trees and the ivy covered garden wall was formerly an open moat. The source of the water which filled this moat and was then scoured by a covered condit passed the kitchen premises and straight to the sea was the subject of a special charter from William Brewer the younger who gave Ilsham and the shipy colloton to the abbey. The water came from what was then known as the spring of St. Petrox, adjoining the kitchen of the courthouse of Tor and was subsequently augmented by other grants. Although the names of F. Reed's well or Yeesidewell near Tor Church and the Shirewell in the

14:37Chalston Vale have come down to us to which this grant certainly had no reference as they are mentioned in other deeds, the site of the St. Petrox spring and of the manor house of William Brewer the younger is still unidentified. The hard water spring still to be found in the meadow adjoining shipy lodge was the source of the Fulford stream granted by Roger de Coquinton soon after the foundation of the abbey. The natural course of this water down the Tor Valley was diverted by the cutting of the wellway in 1847. The introduction of the water supply from Tottiford in 1858 and the perfect sewage system completed in 1877 rendered this provision of Tor Abbey's founders out of date. The molten pond already mentioned were filled in and the long well-built conduit, along which a man can comfortably crawl, is now quite dry and doubtless gave rise to

15:40the legends that underground passages from the abbey existed in various directions. The West Front The drive leads to the west front of the abbey. The first building, surmounted with a cross of Portland stone, renewed during the recent extensive repairs, has been used since the year 1779 as a chapel. At McDonald's Meet the Red Bull Dragonberry Emergizer. It's one of the many new drinks out now. Who knew ice cold drinks could be so fire? Try them all only at McDonald's. Toyota's easy choice sales event is on. Whether you're looking for the performance of a

16:41camera, the versatility of Arab 4, the efficiency of a Corolla or all electric driving in the BZ. There's a Toyota that's just right for you and with great deals across the lineup, now's the time to find yours. But hurry, these deals won't last long. Toyota's easy choice sales event ends soon. We make it easy. Toyota, let's go places. Until the opening of the Church of the Assumption in 1854, this was the only Roman Catholic place of worship in Torque. Before 1779, it had been used as a laundry and previous to the surrender of the abbey in 1539 was the guest hall of the abbey. South of the guest hall were the abbot's apartments, now the modern dining room. Projecting from this side of the monastic buildings midway is the abbot's tower, covering the main entrance. Beyond are the kitchen premises and yard reaching to the Moan Gatehouse. Further

17:45on, at a lower level can be seen the so-called Spanish barn. The crenellated walls were not part of the original design. Permission to build these was granted by Edward III in 1348. The wall on our left, through which we now pass into the garden, has probably been built since the days of the abbots. The cemetery. It is difficult to believe that the ground on which we are walking was some two and a half feet lower when Abbott Adam and his sixth brethren from Wellbeck took possession of the property in the year 1196. Recent excavation has shown that this was the case. A depression in this western side of the garden forms a natural arena, and this lower part was probably always cultivated as a garden. Under the alluvial soil, the Permian sandy clay lies

18:45some eight feet thick at the northern end. As we follow the pathway, we pass on our right a small modern addition to the building. This is the vestry of the present chapel. Just before reaching the end of vestry, pause. For you are standing in the west entrance to the Abbey Church. Looking northwards, the ground rising above the depression just mentioned marks the west side of the cemetery, bounded on the north and east by a high wall. This, according to tradition, was for 340 years the burial ground of the cannons. End of section 1 Section 2 of a short description of Tor Abbey by Hugh Robert Watkin. This Librivox recording is in the public domain. The Church. As a result of further excavation in March 1911, the foundation

19:54of a building running 43 feet northwards from the northwest corner of the church, and thus forming a western enclosure to the cemetery was discovered. Although the width was quite untraceable, owing to the lower level and cultivation of the present garden, it is probable that this building was symmetrical with the guest hall to the south of the west end of church. There is nothing to suggest what purpose it served. From the position, the building could scarcely have been one of the three gatehouses, but was probably further accommodation for guests, added simultaneously or subsequent to the addition of the north aisle. Forming the east end of the vestry are two buttress-like walls adjoining but not built into the west wing. These are all that is left above ground of this end of the church, and formed the southwest corner. The orientation or exact eastern position of the Abbey church was the same as that of Tor parish church, that is due east

21:00by a magnetic compass, April 1907. The building was dedicated to the Holy Trinity, the Savior, and the Virgin Mary. St. Norbert enjoined the cultus Maryannus, or veneration of the Virgin Mary, as one of the first duties of the Primond's retention order. Almost all the churches of the order were dedicated to the honour of St. Mary. It was longer than any other sacred edifice yet built in Tor key, measuring 168 feet, or only 7 feet shorter than the nave of Exeterka Cathedral from west end to organ screen. The width, like all Primond's retention churches, not originally intended for lay congregations, was extraordinarily narrow, only 25 and a half feet. This was increased in the early part of the 14th century by the addition of a north aisle, which made the total width of the church 40 feet. A careful examination of the west wall of the

22:06north transect during the excavations in 1911 showed the broken end of this wall from which the newer facing had fallen, proving indubitably the alteration in the original work. Unlike many of the other churches of the order in England, which were much altered, the north aisle was the only serious addition, and the abbey church of Tor retained its original simplicity of structure, consisting of north and south transects, square east end, and tower over the crossing. Nave and aisle The top of what is left of the masonry of the west entrance is 18 inches below the ground, and the floor roughly leveled with pieces of slate from which the red, yellow, and black paving tiles have been removed, is three and a half feet below the present surface of the ground. As the outside level of the ground was two and a half feet below the present pathway,

23:10there must have been one or two steps down into the church. The proportionate widths of Nave and aisle are shown in the ends of the three walls seen across the lawn, which now covers the body of the church. Outside the north wall of the church was a valum or ditch, 19 inches wide at the top, tapering two 15 inches at the bottom. The object of this ditch, which descends to the level of 18 inches below the floor of the church, was to keep the building dry from the drainage of cemetery and ground which rises gradually to the north behind the church. In this ditch were found large pieces of the stone moulding of the windows, which the despilers had not troubled to raise from where they had fallen. Two small fragments of stained glass testified to what the windows contained. The ditch was further examined in 1911 and found to be strongly arched and covered at the

24:14western end, which was partly explained by the necessity of conducting the water under the adjacent building running northwards. The drainage was thus carried into the open conduit. The north aisle was probably lit by five windows, one in each bay, of the period known as the decorated Gothic. This fact and consideration of the ground plan fixes the date when the aisle was added as early in the 14th century. In the course of search for foundation of the screen, a recess for mural effigy was found, with internment beneath adjoining the north wall. Fragments of canopy and the upper part of a tonsured head in bare stone were recovered, and in all probability this is the tomb of Abbott's Simon de Plimpton, during whose term of office, 1330 to 1345, evidence suggests the aisle was added.

25:16Inside, along the whole length of the walls in the body of the church, ran a ledge of masonry, 14 inches wide, and 10 inches above the floor. The object of this ledge was explained by the fact that the plaster, still adhering to the walls, ended abruptly four inches above the ledge, which had evidently carried a thick wooden seat, the plaster continuing under the seat to the floor level. The south side of the nave adjoined the gath, or square, in which were the cloisters. From this, and the evidence of the masonry forming the junction of the south wall with the tower, the nave was lit on the south side by a clear story, or series of upper windows only, so that the gath should not be overlooked from the church. A door in the southwest corner gave access from the gath into the nave. This was used for processional purposes, and would only be occasionally opened. In 1911, another entrance was found, by means of which the cannons reached

26:24their stalls direct from the gath. The foundation of the stalls was just traceable east of this door, and on the west side the base of the rude screen crossing the nave and terminating at the first column. Ajoining the south wall and west of sight of screen, some 16 tiles, much worn and broken, were found in situ. To ascertain what form the colonnade took proved a difficult matter. The end of the centre wall of the three remnants above ground was first examined, and excavation revealed the well-marked base in bare stone and the bottom of the shaft of a triple column. The centre column was 13 inches, flanked by two smaller pillars, seven inches in diameter. Projecting from this, on the north side, down the body of the church, was a narrow strip of wall, 14 inches wide, four feet, three inches long from the line of the front of these columns,

27:29terminating in some ornamental stonework which had been broken away. Meet the Red Bull Dragonberry Emergizer. It's one of the many new drinks out now. Who knew ice-cold drinks could be so? Fire. Try them all only at my doubles. No corresponding wall ran parallel to it, but it probably marks a park-low's screen. Three small pieces of broken tiles, in situ at this point, against the north wall, show the true level of the floor, quite three feet six inches below the surface. Part of a capital with square abacus and flow-eated overload, lying on the end of this wall, probably once surmounted the terminal column of the arcade. Having ascertained a similar projecting pair from the west end, the space was divided into three spans and the ground removed on the probable side of the first column. The excavation revealed a

28:34double-tune. Again dividing the distance in two, a single internment was discovered instead of the expected base. The inference that the column would be between the two was only proved by careful examination of the ground, which showed a distinct circle of hard, compressed clay filled in with loose rubble. From this space, doubtless, the bare-stone base of the column had been entirely removed, and measurements show the arcade to have consisted of five bays. The tombs accidentally discovered contained no indication for whom they were intended. The double-tune lying under the second arch was formed of three well-built parallel walls of about one foot in thickness, the half on the north side being two feet wide, that on the south one inch less. The excavation was three feet below the church floor, about six feet six inches below

29:39the present surface. Space had evidently been too limited as a curious fact revealed. There was no head wall. An examination showed that it had been taken away and the clay end hurriedly plastered over. William, son of the last Roger Decochington, and Joanna, his wife subsequent to 1330, were buried in the Abbey church, opposite the shrine of St John the Baptist, which probably found clays against the first column. Doubtless finding that the clay was sufficiently solid in the alteration made to the double-tune, when the next internment took place in the third archway, no attempt was made to use masonry, and the sides were simply thickly covered with plaster, on which four black crosses were painted. Unlike the other two, this grave was narrower at the foot than at the head and 18 inches deeper. We have no clue who the occupant was.

30:46End of section 2 Section 3 of a short description of Tor Abbey by Hugh Robert Watkin. This deep revox recording is in the public domain. The Church Tower. The blocks of fallen masonry are all that were main of the south side of the tower, which surmounted the crossing of the church. The north side and greater part of the structure must have fallen first and been taken away. Looking at the ruins from the nave or west side, the large block with two detached, formally superposed pieces fell from the top of the wall on our right and originally formed the south-west corner of the tower. The arch, part of which can be seen, resting on the ground, once crossed the nave. The height of this arch at the apex from the floor was approximately 38 feet, to the spring of

31:52the arch from the wall 25 feet and the span 25 feet 6 inches. The side or transept arches were 19 feet 6 inches wide and were thus narrower, smaller and not so high as those over the nave. The transept arches were not in the centre of the north and south side of the tower, but sprang from the east corners in each case, leaving a blank wall 6 feet wide to the west in the north and south side of the crossing. This space would be occupied by the cannon's stalls, which extended westwards to the road screen. If we now view these ruins from the chancel or east side, we notice two detached blocks which formed the south-east corner of the tower. The lower piece lying nearest to the south transept, in falling, rolled partly over and shows the

32:53commencement of two arches. Meet the Red Bull Dragonberry Emergizer. It's one of the many new drinks out now. Who knew ice-cold drinks could be so fire. Try them all only at my dogs. The pilaster arch in the side facing us spanned the chancel, the smaller one almost prone with the ground and resting on the step, formed the entrance from south transept into the crossing. The second block is turned almost upside down, the end now uppermost being in reality the base which rested on the first piece. This block shows us the design of the tower, which was square with diagonal buttresses for and a half feet wide at the corners. In this respect, resembling the structure of the tower of Cochenton Parish Church, the buttresses of which are smaller. Underneath is the south-east inside corner of the tower, and in the wall are to be seen recesses

33:5910 inches wide and 3 feet, 6 inches apart, which held vertical beams, part of the wooden support to the Belfry floor. Access to the Belfry was obtained from the new old stairway in the sacristy over the groined ceiling and under the roof of the south transept. The height of the tower was about 70 feet. The chancel owner of the south wall of this part of the church remains. The material of the other walls has been requisitioned for you, self-swear, and so carefully removed that only the signs of mortar remain in the ground to show where the wall once stood. As the subsoil is tenacious and firm, the foundations were laid very little below the original surface of the ground. The accumulated debris was removed from this part of the church to fill in the fish pond about the year 1770, and the present level of the ground is rather lourth

35:05than the original floor, as shown by the stone coffin, which is doubtless in its original position in the centre of the chancel before the high altar. The coffin was made in three superposed sections of Perbek marble. The top section is missing and would be leveled with the surface of the tiled floor. The length, six feet eight inches inside, suggest that the occupant was a man of no ordinary dimensions. We know from the cartiliers or deed books of the Abbey that William Brewer the younger died in 1232 and was buried in the church. The Abbey was founded within 12 months of the return from Austria of the hostages for the ransom of King Richard I, and, as the eldest sons of the noblest in the land were sent on that occasion, it is surmised that the Abbey was founded in fulfilment of a vow by William Brewer as a

36:06fan-coffhring for the safe return of his only son. William Brewer the founder and Beatrice his wife were buried in Dunker's well Abbey. There can be little doubt, therefore, that this stone coffin once held the remains and the lid was probably carved with the arms, effigy or title of William Brewer the younger. The south-east corner of the remaining piece of wall shows us the dimension of the east window, occupying almost the whole end of the church. The Aschlejam of another light in the south wall is also noticeable. The remains of a buttress outside give the dimension of this window as approximately seven feet wide. The succeeding bay would be filled with a similar window. There is no trace of Pesina or Sikrayum in this wall. The North Transept

37:08The East Wall of this wing has been almost entirely removed and great difficulty was experienced in proving the foundation. The absence of this and of the North and East walls of the Aschle is very suggestive of the direction in which the stone was required, for what building is not known. Part of the West Wall covered with trees and vegetation is all that is left above ground of the North Transept. In the North-West corner of this wing, the masonry is only just under the surface and as the ground throughout the site rises gradually towards the North and the debris from the fallen walls has at this point been left level with the ground of the former cemetery outside. There are consequently nearly five feet of wall between the level of the church floor and the ground on which we stand. This piece of wall is the best preserved of the whole edifice as it still retains plaster and whitewash just as when the last

38:13service was held in the church. This fact seems to point to the destruction of the greater part of the building having taken place soon after the dissolution. The masonry of this North-West corner including buttresses measures seven feet by eight feet six inches. The North Wall continues just under the surface for 23 feet and there terminates abruptly in an irregular end. As no continuation could be traced beyond, a complete excavation of this corner was necessitated and by following the level of the floor to where the clay and slate ended in the rubble of the removed wall, the second jam of a doorway was traced leading into cemetery from the North trancept through which the cannons would be carried for the last time. Of this North-East corner of the North trancept, only a small piece of the outside masonry remains.

39:14Six feet under the present surface, a small ball's tusk was found outside the wall and inside on the floor level two adjoining pieces of red and black glazed tile. In the very corner were some of the broken fragments of a stained glass window. These and other relics of the abbey found by the writer are by the kindness of Colonel Lucius Carey now deposited in the museum of the Torquee Natural History Society. The fragments of glass were so small and decomposed that it was impossible to ascertain the subject of the window, but from the character of the ornamental detail of the vertical shafting of a canopy and the nature of the coloring, it has been stated by an expert to date from the middle of the 15th century. The line of the east wall of North trancept was ascertained by excavating a trench inside

40:15the trancept and following the level of the floor until it ended in indisputable signs of where the wall had been. Having reached floor level at this point, the writer was anxious to ascertain if the bedrock was far under the surface. Removing a little of the red clay, a piece of cleanly fractured limestone about six to eight inches long was encountered. adjoining this lay another piece, and thus a whole row running east to west. The fragments of limestone were neatly laid one above the other without mortar, and at the depth of two and a half feet below the church floor, and six feet under the present surface, the skeleton of a man six feet four inches in height was reached. The tomb was seven feet four inches long, two feet six inches wide, and was not at right angles to the wall, but rather due east by the sun. The skull was exceedingly thin,

41:18dollycocephanic, with rather narrow frontal and measured twenty-one and a half inches, nothing was found with the skeleton to assist in identifying the tomb. Two fragments of broken green tile found in the sandy clay proved the internment to be subsequent to the flooring of the church. Several pieces of finely carved stone found in the trench above, one representing almost a full-size hand, suggest a handsome shrine having one's occupied this spot. Lealand mentions that a certain Peter Fitzmathieu was buried in the church. As this is the only internment noticed by Lealand, it is not improbable that his attention was especially attracted by the shrine. Peter Fitzmathieu gave Black Orton one of the earliest and most valuable grants to the Abbey. There is reason to think, therefore, that this undoubtedly early tomb is

42:20that of this benefactor. End of section three Section four of a short description of Tor Abbey by Hugh Robert Watkin. This lead with OX recording is in the public domain. The South Transept The South Transept, unlike the North, was divided into two chapels. The chapels were lighted by end windows and by a large window eight feet wide in the west wall. The bare stone sill of which is 12 and a half feet above the floor. A height of this window from the ground was necessitated by the roof covering the cloister on the east side of the gath. It also allowed the necessary space underneath for the staircase from the cannon's dormitory, which was over the sacristy and chapter house. Meet the Red Bull Dragonberry Emergizer. It's one of the many new

43:25drinks out now. Who knew ice cold drinks could be so fire. Try them all only at my dogs. The entrance to the church from the sacristy, a joint staircase. Improving this doorway, a well-made drain was uncovered, leading doubtless from the Pacina, which will be noticed in the south wall. Two lines of decorative string course in bare stone are still to be seen in the wall of the south chapel. The upper line chamfered in its under surface, the lower line is round. For many fragments found of different sizes, this decoration was probably general all round the church. Portions of the plaster on the wall of this chapel still remain. The whole church, including the stonework, was well whitewashed. In the centre of the entrance to the south chapel lies a stone coffin. Unlike the perbec marble

44:28coffin of the founder's son, it is of local red sandstone, formed of many segments and is shorter. The length inside is only five feet eleven inches. That of the chancel coffin, six feet, eight inches. The position of this internment suggested that the adjoining north chapel perhaps contained a similar tomb. On removing the gravel of the walk, on the spot corresponding to the position of the other coffin, only six inches under the surface lay a broken part of the skull and some of the bones of a powerfully built man. A careful examination of the ground showed that the soil had only been disturbed to the depth of two feet below the pathway. Removing the filled-in rubble carefully, the surrounding hard clay showed exactly the dimensions of a stone coffin. In a disused brewhouse, which formerly adjoined the tower, seen to the south,

45:29lay a stone trough used as a mashing tub. The bottom has been covered with a thin cement and the sides roughly trimmed. The inside measurements are six feet one inch by 19 inches, the walls four inches thick. The stone has been identified as free stone from the wind spit quarry in the isle of perbech. This trough, without doubt, is the missing coffin and has been once again placed in the north chapel. One of these stone coffins probably held the remains of William the Buckland, who gave the land of Radcliffe in the Manu of Buckland to the abbot in cannons of Tor with his body and was one of the earliest beneficiaries to the foundation. Roger the Buckland, grandson of William, also endowed the abbey with the property Scope Tor, but we have no evidence that he was buried in the abbey church. Relics in stone, the mill garden.

46:32In this south transect lies an inverted capital which may have surmounted the pilaston side of the arch. A flat stone, from its circular form, holes on top in which handles were fitted with lead and incisions underneath, was once used as the top stone of a hand mill or quern, the introduction of which into private houses was so strongly opposed by the monasteries. The religious houses and occasionally the Lord of the Manor held almost a monopoly of the grinding of corn. A special grant from the crown had to be obtained for the erection of a wind mill. Blue it records that contiguous to the fish pond was the mill garden and in speximus in the record office mentions a water mill in the grounds of Tor abbey in 1473. Tracing the course of the condit already mentioned the only possible water supply for a mill, the foundations of the mill building were found

47:37adjoining the trees by the gate of the railing separating the field nearest to the sea, formerly known as the mill garden, from that near the abbey, the east end of which was occupied by the fish pond. A block of granite, three feet by two feet two inches and ten inches thick, with three incised circles, eleven and a half, ten and a quarter, and nine and a half inches respectively in diameter, has attracted much attention. It is the only piece of granite in the church precincts, but like the millstones may have been wrought from elsewhere. The weight of such a block suggests that it has not been moved far from the site where it was originally used. Granite does not appear to have been used in any part of the structure until more than a century after the foundation of the abbey. The block has only been trimmed on the side of the circular incisions, and therefore is not likely to have been a corner or foundation stone.

48:40If an erratic block, brought by ice, during a glacial age and found in the neighborhood, it may have been an object of reverence. The three circles are perhaps suggestive of the trinity. Geologists doubt whether the granite is of devinshire origin. It has been suggested that the stone was the upper part of a chrysthmetry. Sacristy, muniment room, and chapter house. The site of these buildings must be viewed with the assistance of the plan, as only a small part of the south wall of the muniment room is left above ground. The projecting stones commencing the arch, which formed the slype to the sacristy, can be detected under the ivy of the wall, separating these buildings from the south trancept, and just beyond are the lower steps of a new old stairway. From the position of this stairway, it is thought that it led through the gable end,

49:42under the roof, and over the groined ceiling of the south trancept, straight into the bell-free of the tower, where the ringing of the bell or bells would be one of the sacristans' duties. This official or his assistant would be always in charge of the church night and day, and slept in the sacristy. A fireplace was in the wall adjoining the stairway. Adjoining to the east of the sacristans' small room, a door led into the muniment room, in which would be kept the sacramental vessels, plate, wax, incense, and vestments of gold mentioned by Bishop Grandison in his register. One small doorway to the south communicated with outside. The chapterhouse or capitulum has been almost entirely removed. Here the whole convent met every morning to hear the public confession of fault, the inflection of penance,

50:44and information from other monasteries, and to transact the business of the abbey. It was occasionally a burial place of honour, as at Dayalabbey, but we have no evidence of internment in the chapterhouse of Tor. In 1911, a trench was taken out in the centre of the chapterhouse area, and at four feet, two inches below the surface of the present pathway, two flooring tiles, one black and one yellow, eight inches square, and about three quarters of an inch thick were found in situ, showing that, as that dry burg, the level of the chapterhouse floor was considerably below that of the gaff and church. Probably six steps descended from the entrance. The soil under the floor at this spot had not been disturbed and seemed quite unsuitable for internment. The entrance to the chapterhouse, through which we now pass, is perhaps the best preserved architectural feature of the abbey ruins.

51:48The arched entrance, with three receding orders of decorative shafts and corresponding side windows, seems to have been the general design for this part of all the Primond's detention abbey. Dry burgabbey, in Scotland, is a well-known example. The crumbling columns are of perbec pallidina marble, and it will be noticed are weathering in longitudinal lines. The natural strata of this rock is rarely more than seven inches in thickness. The unio beds are thicker. They probably came from the quarries at Afflington or Affington, a flourishing market town in the days of Henry III, now a farm. The weathering shows the mass of pallidina carinifera shells, of which this deposit is almost wholly composed. The matrix of the rock is grey coloured by carbonate of iron, which rusts from long exposure and gives the column as a brown appearance. The stone of the arch is thought to be from

52:54Solcum. End of section 4 Section 5 of a short description of Tor Abbey by Hugh Robert Watkin. This lead with ox recording is in the public domain. The gath. The general proportions of this centre of the monastic life were dependent upon the dimensions of the church, and in the case of Tor Abbey measured 91 feet square. The gath was a grass plot or paved quadrangle, in the centre which was sometimes a fountain or tree, symbolical of life. In this case, there does not appear to have been anything in the centre and the square was probably grossed. Meet the Red Bull Dragonberry Emergizer. It's one of the many new drinks out now. Who knew ice cold drinks could be so? Fire.

54:00Try them all only at my dolls. To the north was the church wall, blank, with exception of a small door for processional purposes in the northwest corner, and a second entrance discovered in 1911, used by the cannons to reach the stalls. After much search, a small portion of the foundation of the north cloister wall was found 13 feet south of this entrance, showing that the north cloister which would contain the carols was 4 feet wider than the other sides. On the west was the wall of the guest hall, which in those days would have no windows overlooking the gath. The cloister. In the northeast corner of the gath is a doorway built in the wall of the south transept, at this point five feet thick, to withstand the thrust and weight of the church tower. This door was the cannon's entrance to the church, and also was

55:07probably the only means of access to the dormitory by the stairway in the south transept. The outside arching of the doorway is smaller than the inside. The south side of the entrance is at right angles with the line of the wall, but the north side plays in woods. This, with the enlarged inner arch, was probably to allow the circular headed door to open in woods in the thickness of the wall. The lines cut on the slate slab fixed in the wall are by the Reverend Joseph Weave, at one time Vicar of Chudley. The exact shape of the stairway from the lower level of the gath was difficult to determine. There were at least two steps up to this door. The tiled floor of the cloister on the east side was one foot above the level of the gath, from which it was separated by a stone found asian. The remains of this wall are at one level with no trace of columns, probably an upper tier of

56:12beer stone which has been removed, carried the support to the roof. A recess in the masonry formed by a strengthening of the west wall of the transept was probably used as the columptner with gradi or shelves, on which the manuscript books of the abbey were kept. The adjoining gap in the wall can never have been an entrance. Two fragments of the tiled floor in situ showed that the arch is too low for such a purpose. The discovery of the drain already mentioned coming from the transept and passing under the pier, which has been since placed in the centre to support the wall, suggested that this was a lavatory, but subsequent consideration favours the probability that it was rather an ombre to contain books. Beyond the entrance to the chapter house, already noticed, is the arched exit from the day stairs descending from the daughter to the gath. This has been closed

57:15with masonry since the dissolution and all trace of the stairway has been removed. The exit in the corner probably led into a slype, which in turn communicated with the weird daughter, the drain from which, and old foundations of the east wing, were discovered in 1911 and inserted in the revised plan. At Titchfield Abbey, the nearest religious house of the same order to this cloister on the east side of the gath was the place of internment for the abbots. The first abbot of Titchfield was buried in front of the chapter house entrance and the others in succession southward. Nothing we have noticed points to this site having been similarly used at Tau, and it is not yet known where the early abbots of Tau were buried. The southern side of the gath, which formed the wall of the Lachitorium and a joining refactory with its subvolved, is now almost obscured by addition as to the post-disolution mansion,

58:21built in all probability by Sir George Carey, subsequent to 1662. As in the old engraving of that date, the site of the refactory was still a ruin. The Lachitorium or Califactory The small entrance discernible in the masonry in the south-east corner of the gath, led from the cloister into the cannon's Califactory. To reach this room, we leave the cloister by the doorway in the south-east corner of the gath and passing a large circular buttress, supporting the badly built addition to the house, gain the entrance at the back of the east wing. This entrance to the Califactory did not exist in the cannon's days. A small built-up doorway in the south wall, to the left on entering, was probably used by the labourer to bring in fuel for the fire. The site of the fire, which gave to this apartment, the name of Califactory,

59:24can be traced in the east wall to the right on entering. In this room alone could the strict rule of silence be relaxed, by which it was also known as the Lachitorium or Room of Conversation. The roof was groined and there was no second story, as it would have interfered with the large window, generally circular, in the east end of the refactory. The refactory sub-volt There was no communication between the Lachitorium and the refactory sub-volt into which we next enter. The petition walls are modern, and this was originally one vault of four double bays. The groined roof was supported on three beer-stone pillars with per-beck capital and base. Two of these pillars were built in and hidden by the cross walls. One has been again exposed. This vault was formerly lit by four lights, one in each bay on the north side from the gath.

1:00:31The end window has been converted into a stairway, now closed, which formerly communicated with the butler's room. The entrance to this vault was on the south side, in the second bay from the east end, immediately under where the pulpit of the refactorian would be placed in the wall, as at St Agothas, Eesby, Yorkshire. The sight of the pulpit is now occupied by the entrance to the residence. Windows originally occupied the first and third bays, and in the fourth, the appearance of the masonry suggests a lavatory recess for washing. This sub-volt was not improbably used as a school in which the novitiates were taught. The west end wall is part of a massive masonry 12 feet in thickness, formed by an addition each side to the original partition wall to form a base for the Elizabethan chimneys. The cellar's store. To reach the other side of the

1:01:3712 feet thick wall, we must cross the gath past the modern wings and additions, which almost cover the southern half of the quadrangle, and by a circuitous route through the basements, once more reach the continuation of the refactory sub-volt. These two bays, from their position, were doubtless used as the cellar's store. Two of the original windows, although closed by masonry, give a very good idea of what these sub-volt windows were like. The entrance, now closed, appears to have been again on the south side in the west bay. The two doorways, at present open, have been since broken through. There was, originally, no access to the refactory sub-volts from the gath. The wall, dividing the cellar's store, was also not part of the original plan, although probably of earlier date, than the similar walls in the school of the Navitiates. End of section 5

1:02:49Section 6 of a short description of Tor Abbey by Hugh Robert Watkin. This Librivox recording is in the public domain. The southwest corner of the gath. This corner, now covered by modern staircase, leading to the second story of the house, is interesting on account of the remains of the navatories at which the cannons washed before going into meals. The base of an ornamental column and a fragment of dog tooth ornament are, fortunately, left in the south wall to show the sight of one lavatory. The other lavatory is in the west wall, the arch being bisected by the modern staircase wall. The more ornamental lavatory would probably be used by the cannons, that in the west wall by the labereathering and Navitiates. The position of these lavatories gives a clue to the sight of the

1:03:49staircase, or grease, as it was called, which led up to the refectory. This was situated in the corner between the lavatories. The line of the stairway against the west wall could recently be detected, and as at other houses of the order was probably of iron or wood. Although all traces are obliterated by modern structures, there is little doubt that the cloister extended along the south side of the gaff, and protected the sight of the lavatories and the main entrance beyond. The wall of the guest hall and north side of joining the church were also proved in 1911 to have been covered. The Volta This name, Volta, is derived from an old description of the sister house of Titchfield, now in the library of the Duke of Portland at Wellbeck. The doorway through which we now enter from the southwest corner of the gaff, as already stated,

1:04:55was not part of the monastical plan, as this wall outside was occupied by the stairs to the refectory. The original means of exit at this end can be traced in the south wall of the Volta on our left, and led, if not into the kitchen premises, into an adjoining slide. The Volta was a sub-volt under the abbot's apartments and consisted of three double bays. The groind roof is supported on two central columns of beer stone, with roughly moulded perbeck, capital and base, as in the school of the Navitiates. The Volta was used for the accommodation of the Rechenu, an attendance brought by the more important guests, and for the more humble visitors who enjoyed the abbot's hospitality, refused to none for the regulation night and day, after which period the traveller was expected to pay for his entertainment. This hall was lighted by one window in the east wall and three in the west wall.

1:06:00The window near is to the abbot's tower, with rounded head and drip stone course, has fortunately been preserved in its original form. In the southwest corner of the Volta, a narrow way through the wall leads to a new stairway, which has only recently been uncovered and was doubtless the means of communication between the abbot's apartments and the kitchen premises. This stairway did not form part of the original monastic plan and was probably added by one of the later abbots. The north-east corner is filled by a clumsily constructed buttress, for which no cause is apparent and the object of which cannot be conjectured unless it was at one time intended to put a fireplace in the corner above it. The recess and hole through the east wall were for the water pipes which supplied the lavatory on the outside. Subvalt of guest hall. The roof of this undercraft is supported in the centre by two

1:07:07massive piers of Perbek Portland stone, which, from their exceptional hardness, probably came from the disused quarry at Tilley Wim, abandoned, it is thought, on this account. The one pier is roughly rectangular, the other has been trimmed to an octagon. From the fact that these piers differ from those in the other vaults, it has been suggested that they may have been taken from a still older building. This undercraft was probably, in the Abbey days, never anything but a store, although some underground sand-filled flus in which was found charcoal in the northwest end by point to a stove or oven for baking purposes having one socified this spot. The position and shape of the southern most of the three windows in the west wall has been somewhat altered by the subsequent direction of the entrance stairway to the abbot's tower. Provision was made for two doorways into this

1:08:13undercraft, one at the south end of each series of bays, only the one nearest the gaff is now open. The threshold of this doorway appears to be an attempt at, if not actually, the head end stone of a coffin, of the same local red sandstone as the one in the south transept. West Side of Gaff When the old plaster was recently removed from the outside of the wall, above the elevated covered passage built for communication from the house to the chapel, two stone window frames in the masonry were uncovered. The floor levels of this building have been altered to accommodate a lofty dining room which occupies what were two stories and formed the abbot's apartments. Meet the Red Bull Dragonberry Emergizer. It's one of the many new drinks out now. Who knew ice-cold drinks could be so fire. Try them all only at my dogs.

1:09:21The upper story in the days when the rights of Roman Catholicism were interdicted in this country was used as a secret chapel. Part, if not all this upper chamber would be the abbot's bedroom and the small or real window just under the eaves of the roof looking towards the church, was in all probability used for the private devotions of the successive abbots of Tor. Perhaps from this very aperture Simon Reed looked for the last time on the 25th of April 1539 before surrendering his church and nabby to the officials of Henry VIII. The windows were again plastered over during the repairs affected in 1906, but in the year 1909 Colonel Carey had these interesting relics once more exposed and restored, which manifestation of care for this historic building will be much appreciated by the thoughtful

1:10:22to whom such monuments of the past appeal. Projecting from the wall of the guest hall under one of the modern windows of the present chapel is the back of the fireplace, cobbled one foot from the face of the wall. The fireplace was a characteristic feature of the guest hall of a monastery as well as of the caliphactory. Previous to the insertion of the window, this cobbled chimney was continued to the roof. Instances of such 12th century work are now rare and it has to be regretted that a buttress has been recently built up to it underneath. The outside of this fireplace was recently covered by a creeping plant, the roots of which were in the floor of the undercroft, inside. End of section 6 Section 7 of a short description of Tor Abbey by Hugh Robert Watkin. This Librivox recording is in

1:11:30the public domain. The entrance to the gath was through the present subway, level with the undercrofts and originally little, if at all, below the level of the outside ground. The walls partitioning off the undercrofts from the passageway are thinner than the main walls of these west buildings, which are nearly five feet thick at the ground. The basement of the Abbott's tower, projecting from the west wing of the Abbey, formed the main entrance to the seclusion of the gath and cannons quarters. The walls on each side of the entrance have recessed seats where waferers seeking west and shelter for the night would be interviewed by the prior or cellar or the poor sat waiting for the remnants of the cannons we passed. The Abbott's Tower The first story is reached by a stairway adjoining the north side. As the level of the road,

1:12:32as shown by excavation, was originally two and a half feet lower than at the present day, and the lighting of the guest hall and undercroft have both been altered in this corner. There is little doubt that this was not the original means of access to the guest hall and Abbott's quarters. From a slight thickening of the masonry on the right hand side of the basement entrance, the stairway may have been placed at this point and the doorway, probably in the south side of the tower. A lavatory with OG Arch is in the north wall of the guest's entrance. This is obviously of the same date as the doorway into the hall. The second story is now reached by means of the staircase leading from the first floor of the tower to the dining room through a doorway made in the south side of the tower. In the three feet thickness of the wall, three high steps of local conglomerate stone have been inserted. This doorway, like the staircase, is modern and the

1:13:34chamber, doubtless the Abbott's study, as well as the third story which now contains the clock, were connected by a new old stairway in the southeast corner of the tower, direct with the Abbott's rooms. This well-worn circular stairway bears the marks of much usage and the steps, with lift of about ten inches, have been repaired with slate. It was originally built of conglomerate rock, an unsuitable material, but which attests its age as beer, stone and granite were used later. The stairs now only lead from the floor of the second story, but the structure of the steps, deviation of the line of wall below just inside the OG arched entrance into former guest hall, and a recess in the wall of a joining pantry show indubitably that these stairs connected the upper rooms of the tower with the Abbott's apartments. The tower underwent complete repair in 1874

1:14:36when the floors were renewed and the second story panelled. The new old stairway originally led direct onto the roof. The top of the tower has been repaired with bricks and the stairway is now closed by a wooden trap door. A chimney has at one time been inserted in the east wall and a fireplace of Ham Hill Stone put in the second story. The bell on which the clock now strikes was formally rung in a small wooden belfry on the roof by rope from the first story. The hole in the ceiling through which the rope ascended can be seen just inside the OG arched entrance. The bell is thirteen and a half inches in diameter at the mouth with a depth of nine and a half inches. The original eye cast in the bell by which it was suspended has been broken and it is now hung on two wrought iron loops bolted to a rocking beam. There is a legend that the bell was taken

1:15:39from one of the vessels of the Spanish Armada. From its size it may have been a ship's bell, but the old clapper now hanging useless has no wing or fastening for Lanyard. This theory is further refuted by an inscription on the bell in old English characters. The lettering in the mold appears to have been misposed so that the inscription probably reads reversed as on one of the church bells at Kennedy. Many of the old church bells in Devonshire have been recast, but there are some thirty-four with inscriptions in old English lettering more or less undecifable, and there is little doubt that this is one of the Abbey bells. The tone is thin but silvery, and from the fact that this bell alone has been preserved from the dissolution of the Abbey, it is probable that it always hung in this tower and thus escaped the destruction of the church bells.

1:16:40It may have summoned the cannons, labrathering and guests to meals, and possibly sounded the curfew. The modern chapel. When used as the guest hall, this building contain no gallery has now, and extended over the passage in the basement. The OG arched entrance thus opened, direct into the hall. This is further proved by the position of the fireplace, which would then be in the centre of the east wall. The walls have been thickly covered with lath and plaster, and an absence of this material amounts the altar behind which, steps in the wall, lead down into the vestry. The carved wooden bosses at the intersections of the ceiling ribs are probably the only portions of the room now visible, which antidote its conversion to a chapel in 1779. The altar crucifix, standing on a white marble representation of tomb,

1:17:48is probably of Swiss workmanship. The six candlesticks are of local marble, in which the embedded corals are beautifully shown. The chapel contains several mural tablets. The earliest erected to the memory of George Carey, a squire, who died December the 1st, 1805, and of Cecilia, his wife, August the 30th, 1779, the year the chapel was dedicated. The visitor will regard with reverence and sympathetic thought the beautiful piece of marble with gilded letters and frame inscribed to the memory of, Lieutenant Henry J. L. Carey of the Devonshire Regiment, dearly loved only son of Colonel Lucius Carey of Tor Abbey and of Bertha, his first wife. He died in South Africa, 2nd of January 1901, during the Boa War in his 29th year.

1:18:56West in Peace End of Section 7 Section 8 of a short description of Tor Abbey, by Hugh Robert Wocken. This leap with ox recording is in the public domain. The Moan Gate House The position of this gate house is very noticeable. It stands at an angle all together out of harmony with the rest of the monastic buildings, which are all parallel and in accordance with the orientation of the church. The natural inference is that this gate house and the adjoining long building, which occupied the site of foundations, shown in the plan, were standing before the cannons, came into possession of the property in 1196. In the old engraving of 1662, this building is marked as the old gate house,

1:19:58whereas the one other of the missing two, although sketched in an impossible position, is called the gate house on the west side of the Abbey, by which is doubtless meant that marked X in the plan. If the artist can be relied upon, the present gate house, although the oldest of the three, has therefore outlasted the others. Recent investigation and the evidence of architectural detail show that what we have named the Moan Gate House was erected between the years 1310 to 1330, but certainly occupies the exact site of a still older gate house, which explains its position. The building covers two entrances, one wide enough for vehicles and a smaller footway. In the first bay of the larger entrance, on the centre-keystone of Red Sandstone, are the arms of Tor Abbey, a chevron between three pastoral staves. Oliver tells us that these were

1:21:04formally mistaken for 999. In the second bay is the simple device of the founder William Brur, described in Heraldry as, ghouls with two bends under the oar, which means that the bends or wavy lines were in gold on a red background. On the right-hand side, as we enter, on the first bracket from which the vaulting rib springs, is a rather indistinct design. On the sinister of the shield are the original arms of the Moan family of Dunster, a hand-happeted in munch, grasping a flur de l'e. The blank dexter probably signifies the connection of this family with that of William Brur by marriage. Alicia, the fourth daughter of the founder of Tor Abbey, married Reginald de Moan, her father's ward, to whom she brought the manner of Tor Brur afterwards known as Tor Moan. On the second bracket is an eagle displayed. This has been misinterpreted by

1:22:11Oliver and others as the arms of the speak family, which were two crossbars and a two-headed eagle. It is in reality the seal adopted by John, son of Richard de Moan, in the reign of Henry III. On the first bracket of the second bay is a shield on which is a cross ingrailed. John de Moan III, as he was known to distinguish him from two ancestors, who died in 1330 at the approximate age of 45, changed the ancient arms of the hand bearing the flur de l'e to a gold shield with sable crossing grailed. This is the device on this bracket and was certainly not known before the year 1310. The succeeding John de Moan, last Lord Moan of Dunster, altered the device by cutting the engrillment through, making the cross a series of diamonds or lozenges.

1:23:11This device is not on the gatehouse, and would, it is thought, undoubtedly have found a place if the gatehouse had been built subsequent to the year 1330. The Cannons mason's seem to have run short of heraldic designs, as on the fourth and last bracket they have repeated the three pastoral staves of the abbey arms. On the left side of this entrance is only one attempt at decoration, on the end bracket a large treefoil, the significance of which is not known. The keystones in the smaller passage are incised with two circles or wheels of eight spokes. The interstices have in the first bay two dagger-like forms, three triangles and three blank spaces. In the second bay there are two of each incised form and four blank spaces. The interpretation of these cabalistic signs is not known, they probably had some signification.

1:24:16The porter's lodge, on the south side, occupied the space not appropriated by the entrances on the ground floor of the gatehouse. This chamber, only 17 feet by 9 feet, is lit by two small windows looking east and west through the four feet thick walls. A eacrescent bracket of stone in the wall has the appearance of having been carved. A new staircase of granite in the southeast tower leads to the upper stories and the roof. On the first floor, the womb, owing to the height of the carriageway, only extends half the width of the building and measures 16 feet 9 inches by 15 feet. In the south wall there is a fireplace, a small stone bracket held the crescent. A recess in the north wall formed a cupboard about five feet from the ground. In the south west corner a narrow low doorway led into the to it where a larger doorway

1:25:22now filled with masonry formally opened into the upper story of the long building adjoining. The second floor, which extends over the carriageway, forms a much larger room. A fireplace, which had been plastered over, once occupied the centre of the north wall. A small recess in the south wall, four and a half feet from the entrance and four feet four inches from the floor, appears to be all the cupboard accommodation the womb contained with the possible use of both northwest and southwest corner towers into which small doorways lead. On the removal of the ceiling of this room in 1906 some remains of the Stucco decoration were revealed above the level of the Lathen plaster, which shows this chamber to have been of some importance. Not improbably, it was the priors' parlor. The prior, who was known previous to the year 1294 as Dicainus or Dean,

1:26:25kept the keys of the entrances at night and was more directly in charge of the cannons and labratheren than the abbot, whose duties frequently necessitated his absence to attend general chapters and other gatherings of the chief dignitaries of the land. In the northeast corner of this upper room, when the wall was broken through, a narrow passage led to the second floor of the main building, descending some seven feet by means of a steep staircase. This awkward connection between the buildings and the fact that the west wall of the kitchen premises has been carried at least six feet out of true parallel in order to meet this northeast corner of the gatehouse, show that this building antidates the wing. And that, in the original plan of the abbey, there was no intention of connecting the gatehouse with the main building. The design occupies a small place in the bow at arms of Torquay, and is unique among the

1:27:27remaining abbey gateways in this country. The Fordon. The material of the adjoining long building has been removed for you elsewhere, and there is scarcely any rubble in the soil covering the foundations which lie some two feet under the ground. From the dimensions of this building, convenience for drainage, proximity to the barn for fodder, and the necessity for larger accommodation for the horses of visitors with their numerous wettinue, it is conjectured that the lowest story was the Fordon or fold for stabling. The floor above would be occupied by the labewethron who did the menial work of the abbey and looked after the numerous livestock. An inventory of Titchfield Abbey made in the year 1420 mentions 48 horses and gives the total number of the quadrupeds owned by the abbey as 1440. End of section 8

1:28:35section 9 of a short description of Tor Abbey by Hugh Robert Watkin. This leaf revoct recording is in the public domain. The Norman Aller The east wall of the cemetery terminates at its south end against, but is not built into the north wall of a ruined building. The significance of this fact is that the building was there before the wall was erected. The enclosure of the cemetery, as we learn from the records of Dryberg Abbey, was one of the first duties of the cannons. From the material and nature of the cemetery wall of Tor Abbey there is no reason to doubt that it dates from the foundation of the abbey. The adjoining building is therefore older than the abbey. The position of this east aller or hall

1:29:37has proved by recent investigation and shown in the plan, was altogether out of alignment with the walls of the adjoining monument room and west of the abbey, but was parallel with the series of buildings on the west side which we have just considered. The very ancient looking cross walls, with round archways, only descend some six inches under the surface and are comparatively modern. Only the north wall and the north end of the east wall of the old building remain above ground. A cornice or inside string course of stone suggests that the room was 14 feet high. The north wall contained a window seven feet wide, the sill of which must have been ten feet above the level of the floor. Excavation to a depth of six feet showed that a quantity of boulders had been laid in the ground and the north wall, although three feet, three inches thick,

1:30:38was strengthened inside as well as out by additional buttresses two feet thick, thus forming masonry over seven feet in thickness to carry a wall 14 feet high. These precautions were explained by the nature of the subsoil, which, though now quite dry, was doubtless once saturated with water. The site has now for centuries been drained by a well, which adjoins this building. The well is 13 feet deep from the ledge and contained when measured during the exceptional drought of the autumn 1906, water to the depth of six and a half feet. This level was just below that of the floor of the orla. In August 1909 some seven feet of water were pumped out of the well and the clay bed examined. The water enters the well at the lowest point from the north side in three small streams. Excavation outside the well to the north of the buttress revealed a drain just

1:31:45below the level of the orla floor, which formally carried the overflow from the well. The masonry now rises nine feet above this level. This, and the fact that the old drain has now no connection with the well, shows the masonry of the well, which is uniform, to have been entirely reconstructed, probably when the ruins were first converted into a private residence subsequent to 1662. In the masonry of the east wall can be traced a window now filled in, measuring four feet three inches inside, with an outside width of three feet. The height inside was ten feet, the sill four feet from the ground. The jam of another window is shown in the end of the existing piece of wall. A third window probably occupied a corresponding position further down the wall. There was no doorway in either the east side or the north wall. The gap has been broken through,

1:32:48but on the west side it was possible to trace a splaid doorway, which has been filled in with masonry of probably the same date as the addition to this building on the south side. A projecting leg of masonry, one foot in width, and the same distance from the ground, as in the Abbey Church, doubtless, formed the foundation for receipt on each side of the hall. Returning to the south end of this building, almost on the site where a small arbor of iron tredis work now stands, was a tower in the end of the Orla. This tower had fallen or been demolished before the wing was added, as that part of the tower represented by the dotted lines was removed to make room for the new building. The floor of this wing was found to be four feet ten inches below the present surface, and at a depth of six feet four inches or 18 inches below that floor,

1:33:49a well-worn pebbled roadway four and a half feet wide was discovered, which originally led through the basement of the tower into the Orla beyond. A rough stairway from the floor of the wing over the demolished east side of the tower, covered a still-older, ruined staircase, which originally led from the pebbled roadway into the toilet in the wall. The blackened condition of the masonry of this toilet, and the discovery of the ash pit of a stove on the other side of the pebbled way, showed that the remains of the tower had been used as a chimney. Much of the material, which covers the original floor level to a depth of six feet four inches, and on which we now stand, consists of the fallen debris of this wing, which probably fell soon after the dissolution of the abbey. For what purpose it was used, the presence of the stove would perhaps suggest distillery or brewery.

1:34:50The older main building, with end tower, turned throughout the Orla, has in many features the proportions of a church, and were it not that the position is north-northwest by south-south east? It might well be the original church of the Holy Saviour, on the site of which the founder, William Brewer, stipulated that the abbey was to be built. The presence of the associated buildings on the west inclines us to the opinion that this building on the east, adjoining a fresh water supply, was a Norman Orla protected on the west by gatehouse and moat, on the south and south-east by impassable swamps, and on the north by a wall, a remnant of which stands by the present entrance to the grounds. And that the abbey church was in reality built on the site of a former sacred edifice, perhaps as many of the Saxon churches were of Wattland mud.

1:35:55Doug Dale, with what authority is not known, mentions the probability that William Brewer was born at Tor. If there is any truth in this statement, this Norman Orla was the family home and birthplace of the founder of Tor Abbey. The infirmary Of this building, nothing remains above ground. The mulberry tree, nearly six feet in circumference, now growing over the foundation of the east wall of the infirmary, was planted in 1826. The foundations running north south behind the infirmary are of late date, and these walls were badly constructed of material taken from an older building. The barn The so-called Spanish barn undoubtedly dates from the earliest days of the abbey. Transcepts to north and south formed away through which the largest

1:37:00wagon could be drawn to be unloaded within the barn. The walls, three feet thick, are strengthened on each side by ten butresses, three similar supports being built to each end. The inside measurements of this spacious garner are 119 feet long by 28 feet wide. About two-thirds of the length of the barn from the east end has been floored over to form a second story and cover the stabling and coach house beneath. Originally the garner was open from floor to roof. The timber framework of the roof is apparently only the second the barn has had in the 700 years of its existence. Originally there were 12 whips as shown by the recesses for the beam-wests in the wall and the corresponding number of butresses outside. The slated roof is now carried by 17 whips of what is reputed to be Spanish chestnut. The wood is exceedingly hard

1:38:08and the whole roof is fastened together by wooden pins. The beams in the roof of Westminster Abbey were long thought to be of chestnut but were proved by Dr. Lindley to be of dermast oak. A solid block, darkened with age, fills the space of the original being west in the northeast corner. This is more like oak and may be the only piece of the first roof left. The name, Spanish barn, is undoubtedly derived from the fact that 397 prisoners from the galleon Capitana commanded by Don Pedro de Valdes captured from the Spanish Armada and brought into Torbe, on 26 July 1588, were incarcerated in this building while the vessel was being dismantled. From the account in White's history of Torque, the prisoners appear to have been kept here for two or three weeks when they were separated. Five of the principal prisoners were sent to the

1:39:14Lord Lieutenant who committed them to the town prison of Exeter. 166, probably the more dangerous, were put back on board and taken with the Capitana on 28 August to Dartmouth where they were employed on Sir John Gilbert's estate at Greenway. 226, including the boys and 61 sailors, were put in the bride well. In a subsequent letter dated 14 October, termed, our house of correction near the city of Exeter. As the number is then mentioned as 211, it is presumed that 15 had succumbed. From these figures it will be seen that certainly on this occasion no massacre or death from starvation in the barn, as has been summarized, took place. There is no recent record of human bones having been found in the immediate neighborhood of the barn to justify belief in the massacre. The tradition

1:40:19concerning which is recorded in a letter written by a visitor to the Abbey about the year 1778 and mentioned by White. A round shot found in trenching north of the barn is now among the wellocks in the museum of the Torquee Natural History Society. The arms of Tor Abbey carved on a square stone, formerly surmounted the gabled trancept on the north side. Enchorstic tiles. These fragments of the chancel floor are the only pieces with armorial designs found during the original excavations. Three pieces show well the six-flurderly of Byley Abbey Essex, founded 16 years before Tor. What is more remarkable, three chevrons, the arms of the Abbey of Tongalou in Belgium, one of the earliest foundations of the order in 1128 and still flourishing, are clearly

1:41:24to be traced on a similar shield in two other places. The pastoral staff pattern is rather an ornamental device than an attempt to depict the arms of Tor Abbey. It is thought that many such fragments must have been found during the investigations of the Reverend McEnnery, mentioned by a bluet, or the count of which is unfortunately lost. The pieces here illustrated are through the kindness of Colonel Carey in the care of the Torquee Natural History Society. End of section 9 End of a short description of Tor Abbey, Torquee Devonshire by Hugh Robert Watkin.