Torbay (Borough of Torbay)
Human bones and tools found in Kents Cavern in Torquay show that people have inhabited the Torbay area since Paleolithic times. A maxilla fragment known as Kents Cavern 4 may be the oldest example of a modern human in Europe, dating back to 37,000–40,000 years ago. Roman soldiers are known to have visited Torquay during the period when Britannia formed a part of the Roman Empire; they left offerings at a curious rock formation in Kent's Cavern, known as "The Face". A Roman burial was discovered in 1993 in Paignton.
Both Brixham and Paignton appear in the Domesday Book of 1086, and Paignton was given the status of a borough having a market and fair in 1294. The first major building in Torquay was Torre Abbey, a Premonstratensian monastery founded in 1196 and associated with the manor of Torre.
William, Prince of Orange (afterwards King William III), landed in Brixham on 5 November 1688, during the Glorious Revolution, and issued his famous declaration "The Liberties of England and The Protestant Religion I Will Maintain".
Torquay's economy, like Brixham's, initially depended on fishing and agriculture, but in the early 19th century the area began to develop into a fashionable seaside resort, initially frequented by members of the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars while the Royal Navy anchored in Tor Bay and later, as the town's fame spread, by Victorian society.
The historic part of Paignton lies inland: salt marsh formerly occupied the low-lying coastal fringe. Kirkham House is a late-medieval stone house and the Coverdale Tower adjacent to Paignton Parish Church is named after Miles Coverdale, who published an English translation of the Bible in 1536 and became Bishop of Exeter in 1551. Paignton remained a small fishing village until the early 19th century; a new harbour was built here in 1837.
A new phase in the urban expansion of the area began when Torre railway station opened in December 1848. The railway extended to Torquay Seafront station in 1858, to Paignton in 1859 and to Brixham in 1861. As a result of its expansion, Torquay was granted borough status in 1872, and 1902 saw its first marketing campaign to summer tourists.
Torbay Golf and Country Club (now defunct) opened in 1933. The club and course closed in the mid-1950s.
Tor Bay hosted the sailing events for the 1948 Summer Olympics in London.
The County Borough of Torbay, established in 1968 by the amalgamation of the Municipal Borough of Torquay, Urban District of Paignton and Urban District of Brixham, also took in parts of the civil parishes of Coffinswell and Kerswells from Newton Abbot Rural District and Churston Ferrers and Marldon from Totnes Rural District. The County Borough became the Borough of Torbay under local government reorganisation in 1974. It became a unitary authority on 1 April 1998, making it separate from Devon County Council but shares ceremonial duties with the county council.
Map - Torbay (Borough of Torbay)
Map
Country - United_Kingdom
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The United Kingdom has evolved from a series of annexations, unions and separations of constituent countries over several hundred years. The Treaty of Union between the Kingdom of England (which included Wales, annexed in 1542) and the Kingdom of Scotland in 1707 formed the Kingdom of Great Britain. Its union in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland created the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Most of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, which formally adopted that name in 1927. The nearby Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey are not part of the UK, being Crown Dependencies with the British Government responsible for defence and international representation. There are also 14 British Overseas Territories, the last remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, encompassed almost a quarter of the world's landmass and a third of the world's population, and was the largest empire in history. British influence can be observed in the language, culture and the legal and political systems of many of its former colonies.
Currency / Language
ISO | Currency | Symbol | Significant figures |
---|---|---|---|
GBP | Pound sterling | £ | 2 |
ISO | Language |
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EN | English language |
GD | Gaelic language |
CY | Welsh language |