Tourist attractions Torquay

This is one of the largest zoos in Britain (30 ha): many animals are part of an endangered species preservation programme. It also includes an extravagant botanical garden.

Digs carried out in a number of caves, Kents Cavern, revealed that they had sheltered prehistoric animals and men for long periods, from the Palaeolithic age 100,000 years ago to the Roman era. The 800m of paths lead through caves with petrified wate..

The half-timbered Elizabethan Museum (no 70), the dark red brick Manor (now a community education centre), a late 18C Gothic house (in Bank Lane) and other attractive buildings (nos 48 and 52) testify to Totnes' former prosperity.

This priory then parish church with its red sandstone tower, decorated with gruesome gargoyles, contains a beautiful Beer stone rood screen (1459).

Butterwalk is a terrace of four shops with overhanging upper floors, supported by eleven granite pillars (built 1635-1640, restored in 1943).

The Church of St Peter, St Paul and St Thomas of Canterbury (1170) is said to have been founded by William de Tracey in atonement for his part in St Thomas Becket's murder. The church has been restored but principally dates from the 15C and contain..

Surrounded by magnificent gardens, Torre Abbey is an 18C house, a building known as "The Spanish Barn" and the ruins of the medieval abbey. The house has been turned into a museum and contains a collection of English pewter, glassware from ..

Just beyond the Arch at the top of Fore Street, turn right up a flight of steps. The cobbled path along the old ramparts leads past cottages with gay, well-groomed frontages.

75 years after its foundation, Dartington continues to fulfil the intentions of its founders, Leonard (1893-1974) and Dorothy Elmhirst (1887-1968). By encouraging talent and individual responsibility through progressive education and reassessing ..

Interesting features include the Guildhall (1553), which occupies the site of an earlier Benedictine priory. The house at no 16, now a bank, was built in 1585 by a local pilchard merchant whose initials are on the façade. The granite pillared Butt..

High on a mound sits the 14C castle, built to strengthen the 11C motte and bailey earthworks. The ramparts command excellent views of the River Dart Valley.

The medieval town's high street has houses dating back to the Middle Ages. Note the four-storey 17C Tudor House and the The Carved Angel , a half-timbered house built in the late 14C and now an inn.

The tall, square, pinaccled tower has been a landmark for people sailing upriver since it was built in 1372. Note especially the south door with its two ironwork lions and Tree of Life, and the medieval altar with legs carved in the shape of ships' f..

The fort was begun in 1481 by the merchants of Dartmouth to protect their homes and deep-water anchorage and modified in the 16 and 18C. It commands excellent views of the sea and the estuary. It was the first castle in England to have been designe..

The present abbey was consecrated in 1932, 900 years after its foundation under King Canute (1016-1035). The new church is Norman in style, following the plan of the Cistercian house dissolved under Henry VIII. The High Altar is decorated with gold..