Torre Abbey has been awarded a £25,000 grant from a section of the government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund, called the Heritage Stimulus Fund from Historic England along with £5,000 support from Friends of Torre Abbey. It will help fund the vital maintenance work of our courtyard areas.

Between 1803 and 1809,  George Cary IV made a number of alterations to the buildings, in line with the Georgian fashion for romanticising Britain’s Catholic past. This included rebuilding the east end of the abbey in Tudor style and constructing new octagonal turrets and walls topped with battlements. The courtyards are part of these Georgian era renovations and would have been used to disguise the kitchen and servant areas from the outside.

Grants have been allocated to cherished heritage sites, like Torre Abbey, across the country to cover urgently needed maintenance and repairs. As well as rescuing precious heritage buildings in need, the injection of cash will protect livelihoods for some of the most vulnerable heritage specialists and contractors working in the sector.

As a Grade 1 listed building and Scheduled Ancient Monument, this is project that requires a significant level of expertise to sensitively restore the historic courtyards either side of the Abbot’s Tower. With this in mind, we are delighted to be working with heritage specialists including Architecton, Carrek, Oakford Archaeology and Hockley and Dawson Consulting Engineers.

The project will enable us to undertake urgent works that will include the removal of vegetation, the stripping of the present cement render ensuring the conservation of any medieval render encountered) and new render being applied.

Any damaged mortar and stone slabs will also be removed and replaced, before the walls are limewashed to unify the surfaces and offer additional weather protection.

Follow our social media channels for the latest updates and photographs as the project progresses.