Torbay Borough of Torbay | |
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Borough andunitary authority area | |
    
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| Nickname: The English Riviera | |
| Motto: Salus et felicitas "Health and Happiness" | |
 Torbay shown withinDevon and England | |
| Coordinates:50°27′8″N3°33′25″W / 50.45222°N 3.55694°W /50.45222; -3.55694 | |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Constituent country | England |
| Region | South West England |
| Ceremonial county | Devon |
| Borough | 1968 |
| Unitary Authority | 1998 |
| areas of the borough (2021 census BUASD) | List
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| Government | |
| • Type | Unitary authority |
| • Body | Torbay Council |
| • HQ | Torquay |
| • MPs | |
| Area | |
• Total | 24.27 sq mi (62.87 km2) |
| Lowest elevation | 0 ft (0 m) |
| Population (2021) | |
• Total | 122,466 (Unparished area) 139,324 (Unitary authority) |
| Ethnicity(2021) | |
| • Ethnic groups | Unparished area (Excluding Brixham) |
| Religion(2021) | |
| • Religion | List
|
| Time zone | UTC0 (GMT) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+1 (BST) |
| Postcode district | |
| ISO 3166 code | GB-TOB |
| Website | torbay |
Torbay/tɔːrˈbeɪ/ is aunitary authority with aborough status in theceremonial county ofDevon, England. It is governed byTorbay Council, based in the town ofTorquay, and also includes the towns ofPaignton andBrixham. In 2021 it had a population of 139,324. The borough consists of 24.27 sq mi (62.9 km2) of land around the east-facingTor Bay, part ofLyme Bay on theEnglish Channel.[2] A popular tourist destination, Torbay's sandy beaches, mild climate and recreational and leisure attractions have given rise to its nickname of theEnglish Riviera. The neighbouring districts areSouth Hams andTeignbridge.
Human bones and tools found inKents Cavern in Torquay show that people have inhabited the Torbay area sincePaleolithic times. Amaxilla fragment known asKents Cavern 4 may be the oldest example of amodern human in Europe, dating back to 37,000–40,000 years ago.[3][4]Roman soldiers are known to have visited Torquay during the period whenBritannia formed a part of theRoman Empire; they left offerings at a curious rock formation in Kent's Cavern, known as "The Face". A Roman burial was discovered in 1993 inPaignton.
Both Brixham and Paignton appear in theDomesday Book of 1086, and Paignton was given amarket charter in 1294 granting it a weekly market and annual fair.[5] The first major building in Torquay wasTorre Abbey, aPremonstratensianmonastery founded in 1196[6] and associated with the manor of Torre.
William,Prince of Orange (afterwardsKing William III), landed in Brixham on 5 November 1688, during theGlorious 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 fashionableseaside resort, initially frequented by members of theRoyal Navy during theNapoleonic Wars while theRoyal Navy anchored inTor Bay and later, as the town's fame spread, byVictorian 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 afterMiles Coverdale, who publishedan 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 whenTorre 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.[7]
Tor Bay hosted thesailing events for the1948 Summer Olympics in London.[8]
In the 1970s Torbay had problems withsubstance abuse and people living in poor conditions inhouses of multiple occupation.[9]
Torbay Council is the local authority for the borough. Since 1998 it has been aunitary authority, performing the functions of both acounty council anddistrict council combined. The borough contains onecivil parish, Brixham, which forms a second tier of local government in that part of the borough; the rest of the borough is anunparished area.[10]
Torbay as an administrative area was created in 1968, when themunicipal borough ofTorquay, theurban districts ofBrixham andPaignton, and the parish ofChurston Ferrers were all abolished. Torbay was created as acounty borough covering the area of the abolished authorities, with some adjustments of the boundaries to neighbouring areas; the more rural southern parts from Brixham and Churston Ferrers were transferred to the parish ofKingswear, and there were more minor adjustments to the boundaries with the neighbouring parishes ofCoffinswell,Kerswells andMarldon. As a county borough, Torbay was administratively independent fromDevon County Council.[11] Six years later, in 1974, local government was reformed again, with Torbay becoming anon-metropolitan district and Devon County Council providing county-level services to the area again.[12] Torbay regained its independence from the county council in 1998 when it was made a unitary authority.[13] Torbay remains part of theceremonial county of Devon for the purposes oflieutenancy.[14]
The area is represented nationally at theHouse of Commons by two MPs. Torquay (along with part of Paignton) is in theTorbay parliamentary constituency which was created in 1974 and was won bySteve Darling for theLiberal Democrats in 2024 having been held byAdrian Sanders of theLiberal Democrats from 1997 to 2015 andKevin Foster for theConservatives from 2015 to 2024. Brixham and part of Paignton fall within theSouth Devon constituency, which is also represented by a Liberal DemocratCaroline Voaden.
There are three main towns around the marine inlet of Tor Bay:Torquay in the north,Paignton in the centre, andBrixham in the south. These have become connected over the years, swallowing up villages and towns such asSt Marychurch,Cockington,Churston Ferrers andGalmpton, though the latter maintains a rural feel thanks to tight conservation measures. The borough of Torbay is bordered by theSouth Hams to the south and west, and byTeignbridge to the north. Nearby towns includeTotnes andDartmouth in the South Hams, andNewton Abbot andTeignmouth in Teignbridge.
The southern limit of Tor Bay isBerry Head, and the northern limit is Hope's Nose, although Torquay itself stretches further north intoBabbacombe Bay, where the beaches atOddicombe,Babbacombe andMaidencombe can be found; these are noted for their interestingBreccia cliffs. Torbay's many geological features have led to the establishment of theEnglish Riviera Geopark; as of July 2008, this is the sole urban geopark of the 53geoparks worldwide.[15]
Because of the mild climate, Torbay palm trees are a common sight along the coast. However, these are in fact not palms butCordyline australis, originating fromNew Zealand where it is known as "cabbage tree". These trees also flourish elsewhere in the UK. It is suggested that the popularity of cabbage trees in Torbay is attributable to their first being introduced to the UK in that region.[citation needed]
Torbay includes:
The2011 census confirmed Torbay's reputation as a retirement area, with a higher proportion of all age groups over the age of 50 than nationally. However compared to 2001, age groups 75-79 and 80-85 both showed a decline of around 4%, compared to increases of 1.5% and 14% for the whole country.[2]
Some other statistics from the 2011 census:
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Torbay's main activities are public service; serving its large retired community such as in hospitality, construction and repairs; tourism; the transport sector including boats; distribution; retail; fishing; the digital, media and arts sector. It has a few established schools and accredited teachers/hosts for the short-term study ofEnglish as a foreign language.
The fishing port of Brixham is home to one of England and Wales' most successful fishing fleets and regularly lands more value than any UK port outside Scotland.[citation needed] It is also a base forHer Majesty's Coastguard and theTorbay Lifeboat Station.
Torbay has beentwinned withHameln inLower Saxony, Germany since 1973; and withHellevoetsluis in the Netherlands since 1989.
The Melville Street, Warren Road, Rock Road and Coburg Place area of Torbay, also known as Melville Hill, has experienceddeprivation and violence since the 1970s.[9][18][19][20] This is an historic area with 44Grade II listed buildings.[9][20]
In 2013, aHealthwatch report for the council found that the area had high levels of houses in multiple occupation, "a fairly transient community" and heavy drug use.[20] The report stated that Melville Hill had "a historic reputation as a dumping ground for transient, out of work single people with chaotic lifestyles", but that most residents felt it was a friendly area.[20] In 2014, the council said that the area had "significant challenge ... from car parking, poor quality public realm, bin storage, rat running,ASB, HMOs, lack of community space/play area, links to the town centre".[21] In 2015, the local health authority noted that residents had a lower life expectancy than in other areas of Torbay, that the proportion of people in the area who hadmental ill health orlearning disabilities were high, that thesuicide rate was higher than elsewhere in the South West, and that many residents were either unemployed or earnt low wages.[22]
The local authority first set up a "Making Melville Marvellous" project to supporturban renewal in 2013, but this did not lead to results.[9] In 2020 the local authority identified £100,000 of funding from adult social care to start the project again.[9] The aims include supporting people who misuse substances, improving the quality of housing and developing community.[9][18]
Torbay is beyond themotorway network and is primarily served by:
Bus services are largely operated byStagecoach South West, with some routes run by Torbay Minibuses and County Bus.[23]
Torbay has three stations on theNational Rail network, with services operated byGreat Western Railway:[24]
A new station atEdginswell was planned to open in December 2018 as part of the proposed Devon Metro but lack of funding prevented construction. Approval of planning permission expired November 2019, but a new application for funding was made in June 2020 for a new design incorporating lifts instead of ramps. If government funding is approved, a new planning application would be made.[26] The station was awarded £7.8m from theNew Stations Fund in November 2020.[27]
Famous former residents of Torbay include:
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