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Summary

The 'Calcetum' or causeway at Torre Abbey occupied a parallel line to The King's Drive but some 75m to the east.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• Torbay HER: MTO9673

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• ROAD (Undated)

Full description

Torbay HER record (SMR record). SDV361984.

The 'Calcetum', or causeway, mentioned in William Brewer's foundation grant for the Torre Abbey was long thought to occupy the line of the present road, The King's Drive. In fact it lay due SSW from the southwest cornerof the Spanish Barn. It defined the west side of the abbey precinct between the sands and the abbey (predating the Spanish Barn). The original 1196 grant defined the west boundary '… as from the calcetum up to the aforesaid road which comes from Cockington …' The original gift was enlarged by William Brewer II by 1232 to include ' … the whole of my meadow which lies on the western side of the calcetum which runs down from the abbey of Torre to the sea, between the said calcetum and the meadow of Cockington.' The meadow of Cockington thus formed the manorial boundary between Torre and Cockington. Its purpose was to provide a solid road between the abbey and that part of the beach where sea-borne traffic left or arrived at the abbey. The date of construction is uncertain, but it must have been well established at the time of the foundation of 1196. [1][2]

The area of the meadow can still be seen on the First Edition OS County Series survey 1:2500, and the Town Map 1:500 surveyed 1860-1, with the parish and manorial boundary as they were in the 12th and 13th centuries; a track with the original monastic drainage, canalised on its west side and tree-lined, marks the line of the calcetum with the meadow to the west. The same track is present on the 1808 Cary estate map which also shows an indentation or inlet at the water's edge. This is not present on the OS as the building of New Road in 1841-2 obliterated it.

When The King's Drive was formally laid out, and the wall between the abbey grounds erected, in 1877 and the King's Garden formed to the west of it in 1889 the parish and manorial boundaries, and hence the old extent of the Abbey was preserved in the ward boundary.[3]

White alludes to the existence of a 'rude quay' at the mouth of the stream to the west of the causeway. [4] However an inlet is shown on the Cary Estate Map of 1808 at the end of the calcetum's 19th century form. [1]

The Causeway provided access to the beach across an area of low ground that appears to have been liable to seasonal tidal flooding; it appears that the causeway was constructed to provide access to a specific sheltered inlet or quay to the immediate east of Corbyn's head. Aerial photos reveal that the line of the road when extended into the tidal zone coincides with the transition of sand to rock.

<1> 1808, Manor of Torabbey in the Parish of Tormohan, Devon (Cartographic). SDV362381.

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<1> Walker, H.H., 1965, Transactions of the Devonshire Association, p.196-7 (Article in Serial). SDV361991.

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<2> Russell, P., 1960, History of Torquay and the Famous Anchorage of Torbay, p.20-1 (Monograph). SDV362605.

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<3> Ellis, A.C., 1930, Historical Survey of Torquay, p.45 (Monograph). SDV362462.

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<4> White, W., 1878, History of Torquay, p.78 (Monograph). SDV362559.

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Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV7735 - Site Visit by Paul Gibbons 2 September 1993

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