Sepia-tinted photographic postcard showing a view of a pond and flower beds in the Abbey Gardens, Torquay. Pencil: [personal message] [address in Westcliff-on-Sea supplied]. Torre Abbey was founded in 1196; after the reformation, it was partially demolished and the remainder turned into a private house, until it was sold to the Council in 1930. The Council had already purchased part of the site in 1924 to develop as a municipal park, as Abbey Park