Why Torre Abbey?
This is the story about a cavernous
building at Torre Abbey and its link
to an attempted Spanish invasion in
1588. It is known locally as the
‘Spanish Barn’ but it was originally a
monastic ‘tithe barn’. The tithe barn
was a great barn built by the canons
or monks of Torre Abbey to store
tithes or taxes, a tenth of all earnings
due to the church, in this case, Torre
Abbey. These taxes were paid in
agricultural produce by tenant farmers
working the Abbey’s lands. The story of
this barn is unique. To understand what
happened here in July 1588, we need
to learn about the causes of the naval
war between England and Spain
called the ‘Spanish Armada’.
To understand them we have to go back
to the reign of Henry VIII and the
events that surrounded his complex
family. What caused this war and why
was Torre Abbey so important?
Sir Francis Drake c. 1540-27
What is an Armada?
‘Armada’ is a Spanish word meaning
‘fleet’. To understand the causes of this
war we need to understand Henry VIII’s
complicated family tree. The causes of
this war were deep- rooted. The initial
trigger was Henry VIII’s divorce of
Katherine of Aragon. This resulted in
England becoming an outcast Protestant
nation.
Torre Abbey is important in the Armada
saga as its barn became a temporary
prison for the crew of the captured
Spanish galleon, the Nuestra Senora del
Rosario which literally means, ‘Our Lady
of the Rosary’. This was the only Spanish
Elizabeth I in the Armada Portrait
Galleon captured during the Armada.
Meet Henry VIII’s Family
Henry VIII was only the second king in the Tudor
dynasty. In 1485 his father, Henry VII the first
Tudor king, gained the throne by defeating Richard
III in the last battle of the War of the Roses, known
as the ‘Cousins War’ at the time. As a Lancastrian
(family emblem was the red rose) he married
Elizabeth of York (white rose) to heal the divisions
in England. He had two sons, Arthur and Henry. As
Arthur died in 1502 and Henry VII in 1509, Henry
VIII became the next king.
Divorced, beheaded, died
Divorced, beheaded, survived!
Henry VIII married Katherine of Aragon in 1509,
she failed to produce a live son. Her only surviving
child was Mary born in 1516. Henry, desperate for
an heir, divorced Katherine in
1533 and married Anne Boleyn. She also only
gave birth to a daughter, Elizabeth in 1533 and
Henry beheaded her for treason in 1536.
He then married Jane Seymour who gave birth to
his only son and heir in 1537 but she died three
weeks later.
Henry was to marry three more women, Anne of
Cleves (divorced), Kathryn Howard (beheaded)
1542 and Catherine Parr who was married to him
when he died in 1547 (survived).
His son, Edward VI, succeeded him but died aged
15 in 1553. Edwards’ cousin, Lady Jane Grey
was then Queen for 9 days, before his eldest
sister, Mary I, had her arrested and executed. She
then became Queen and returned England to
Catholicism for five years. She died in 1558 and
her sister, Elizabeth I, came to the throne.
England Breaks with Catholicism
In 1527 Henry VIII, only
the second in the Tudor
line and desperate for a
male heir, applied to the
Pope for a divorce from
Katherine of Aragon.o
Katherine was a Spanish
princess, his first wife of 24 years and mother of
Mary I.
Henry's desire to annul
his marriage to
Katherine was a key
factor in the beginning
of the English
reformation. Katherine
bore him six children,
three of them sons, but only Mary survived. Henry
claimed the marriage was unlawful as he had
married his brother’s widow, an act forbidden by
canon law.
For seven years the Pope refused to grant the
divorce on the grounds that a special dispensation
had been granted at the time of the marriage as
Katherine had sworn
that her marriage to
Henry’s brother,
Prince Arthur had
never been
consummated and it
had been annulled.
Henry wished to
marry his mistress,
Anne Boleyn and when in 1533 Anne became
pregnant, Henry had to act. His solution was to
reject the power of the Pope in England and
cut all ties to the Roman Catholic Church and declare
himself head of a new Protestant English Church and to
have the Archbishop of Canterbury grant the
annulment.
Henry’s actions started a pendulum effect with
England’s religion swinging from Protestantism under
Henry VIII and his son Edward VI for 15 years before
swinging back to Catholicism
under Mary I. A devout
Catholic, Mary was determined
to return England to the
Catholic fold. She even
attempted to revive the
monasteries but she did not
succeed due to her extremely
short reign of six years. She
even chose devout Catholic,
Phillip II as a husband, hoping he would aid her in her
quest. However, dying childless meant the pendulum
swung back to Protestantism under Anne Boleyn’s
daughter, Elizabeth
Did you know?
It was after the break with Catholicism that
Henry VIII began closing or ‘dissolving’ all the
monasteries, starting with the smallest, he
confiscated all their wealth and sold their lands
cheaply to gain powerful allies.
Torre Abbey was closed on 20 February 1539.
The monks were retired and shortly
thereafter became a grand family
home. The Dissolution of the
Monasteries is another important
theme for your pupils to study at
Torre Abbey.
Causes of the Spanish War
What prompted the Spanish to invade England? There was no one single factor but an accumulation of grievances
between the two nations starting in 1533, in truth they had been moving towards war for 55 years.
The first cause of war was Henry
VIII’s divorce from Katherine of
Aragon resulting in Henry’s
break with the Roman Catholic
Church and the establishment of
the Protestant Church of
England. Phillip II, Holy Roman
Emperor and a devout Catholic
felt it was his duty to return
England to Catholicism.
After Philip of Spain married Mary
Tudor when she was Queen, he
persuaded her to join Spain in a war
against France. They were
unsuccessful and England ended up
losing Calais. This led to people being
unhappy with Mary’s Spanish
marriage and its implications. The bad
blood created resulted in the
widespread burnings of Protestants.
When Catholic Queen Mary I
died childless, her half-sister,
Elizabeth I, became Queen and
the Protestant faith once more
became the national religion. In
attempt to gain dominion over
England, Philip sent Elizabeth an
offer of marriage the day after her
sister’s death. She refused,
earning his enmity.
When Drake proposed an attack on
Spain’s trade with her South American colonies,
aimed at reducing Philip’s naval strength,
Elizabeth was reluctant to agree. After a series
of bad Spanish harvests, Philip invited English
corn ships to Spanish harbours promising of
immunity from any restrictions on the sale of
their cargo but when they arrived he declared an
embargo on all English shipping and seized the
ships. Elizabeth appointed Drake as Admiral of
a squadron to bring back the corn ships, even
sending two of her own ships with him.
Mary Queen of Scots, Elizabeth’s
Catholic cousin, was heir to the throne
and Phillip II of Spain, hoped that if
Mary succeeded in replacing her cousin, she
would return the England to Catholicism.
Elizabeth had imprisoned her cousin for 18
years and despite Mary being involved in
more than one plot to assassinate her, she
was reluctant to execute another queen.
Elizabeth finally yielded to her ministers’
pleas and executed Mary in 1587. This
forced Philip’s hand and he resorted to war in
order to gain control of England.
At this period part of the Netherlands
was a Spanish colony and they forbad
the largely Protestant Dutch from
practising their religion, leading to a
revolt which Elizabeth supported. She
sent money and later, troops to the
Netherlands which angered Phillip.
Lord Howard and Francis Drake
Francis Drake had fought many
battles against the Spanish and
was known as a ‘privateer’.
The only difference between a
privateer and a pirate was a
‘Letters of Marque’. This
was a document issued by
the Queen Elizabeth giving
the captain permission to
capture and raid ships of
anyone she named as her
enemy. Drake was also the first
man to circumnavigate the
globe.
Previous Armada Attempts
In 1587 Drake attacked Cadiz destroying
ships and stores meant for an Armada
which was about to leave that year. With
so many ships and supplies lost, they were
delayed by a year. In this raid, Drake also
deliberately destroyed a coopering factory
which made barrels. Almost everything in
a ship is stored in barrels so that when the
Armada set off in May 1588, they were
hampered by food supplies and gunpowder
being spoiled when the new barrels split.
Battered by storms they returned to Spain
for repairs and fresh stores. They finally
left Spain on 21st July 1588, setting sail for
England with 130 vessels.
He was not officially part of the navy
but a volunteer. He was second-incommand of the English Fleet. The
fleet, was led by Lord Howard, the
Lord High Admiral of England who
initially commanded 55 warships at
the first battle off Plymouth. When
news arrived in Plymouth that the
Armada had been sighted off the
Lizard, the English ships could not
pursue them as the wind and had
them trapped in the harbour. Did
Drake and Howard actually play bowls
on Plymouth Hoe? We have no
evidence either for or against this but it
makes a good story!
Capture of the Nuestra Senhora del Rosario burning at the back of Drake’s ship to guide
During the first of the Armada battles off
Plymouth on Sun 31 July, the Rosario
collided with two other Spanish ships and
damaged her bowsprit and foremast. Because
of this she was left behind in order to
minimise the danger to the rest of the fleet.
At first two ships were left with the Rosario
to guard her but as darkness fell they rejoined
the rest of the Armada and the Rosario was
left on her own.
As Drake was in his home waters, Howard
gave Drake the honour of leading the fleet
through the night and so with a large lantern
them, the English fleet sailed after the
Armada.
During the night the light on the Revenge
(Drake’s ship) was suddenly extinguished
and Howard, along with two other ships,
continued on course as best they could until
they discovered a faint light ahead. As dawn
broke they discovered that the light they had
been following belonged to a Spanish ship
of the Armada and they were now within
firing range of the Spanish.
Drake knew that the Rosario was adrift and
using his knowledge of the tides and
currents, he was able to plot where she was
likely to be. He had extinguished the light to
search for her and managed to capture her
without a fight.
There should have been around 50,000 gold
escudos on board, but when his lieutenant,
Phillip Whiddon towed her into Tor
Bay, there were only 25,300!
What Happened to the Crew of the Rosario?
Don Pedro de Valdes, Admiral of the Andalusian Squadron and captain of the Rosario, with his 40 officers and
gentlemen, dined aboard the Revenge as Drake’s guests on the night of their capture. The Rosario with the 397
remaining crew on board, was towed to Tor Bay by the Roebuck captained by Lieutenant Phillip Whiddon.
Although he would have faced a massive task to clear the decks of the damaged masts and tangled ropes and
canvas, it took him six days to arrive in Tor Bay. Perhaps his tardiness might explain the missing gold – where
did he stop off? The prisoners were met by Sir John Gilbert and George Cary, the two Justices of the Peace,
given the task of the defence of Devon.
The crew were met by 40 pikemen and marched into the Spanish Barn. Here they were held for 23 days while
the ship was stripped of everything of value. It was moved to Dartmouth and the prisoners to the Bridewell
(prison) near Exeter. Gilbert and Cary were given an allowance of only 4d by the Privy Council to feed the
prisoners. It took George Cary months to reclaim this allowance from the Council.
The ransom set for the prisoners’ was set at one month’s pay. They were finally free on 24th November 1589
Not all the prisoners survived. Of the 397 between 350 and 370 survived.
What happened to the rest of the Spanish Armada?
There were a number clashes between the two
warring fleets few of them decisive. The first
was the battle off Plymouth in which the Rosario
was captured. This was followed by a battle, off
Portland and off the Isle of White, before the
Spanish took shelter in Calais to replenish their
supplies.
English fleet harrying them, they were forced to
flee northwards.
That night the English sent fireships into Calais.
The Spanish
panicked, cut
their anchors
and broke
out of Calais
scattering in
their bid for
safety they
broke their
strong defensive crescent formation. Many of the
ships were damaged and in the morning only a
small group of Spanish ships lay at anchor just
outside Calais with more than half the Armada
drifting away, unable to rejoin their fleet.
Instead, the Spanish were forced to sail North
around Scotland
where the
Armada was
dispersed by
severe Atlantic
storms and a
large portion of
the vessels were
wrecked on the
coasts of
Scotland and
Ireland. Many
men fell ill and
with supplies
exhausted, many
more starved.
The ensuing Battle of Gravelines on the 8th
August lasted for eight hours. The Spanish fleet
was damaged with many casualties. As the
English
closed in,
a huge
squall
swept
down on
the two
fleets.
The English managed to ride it out but the
Spanish were too badly damaged to do the same
and ran before the wind with the
This was the last naval engagement as the
Spanish were too badly damaged to continue.
They could not return home through the Channel
as the English were blockading that route.
On the 22nd
September the San Martin was the first to limp
back into port. Of the 130 Spanish ships that set
sail with such
high hopes of
conquest, only
67 returned. It
is reckoned
that 5,000
men died, by
drowning, or
in battle
against the English.
Subject: KS2 History
Topic: The Spanish Armada and Torre Abbey
Lesson Setting: Spanish Barn (Outside), 800 Years Exhibition (Top Floor), Chapel (Chapel).
Overview of Lesson
Leading up to this work
This lesson focuses on the Abbey at the time of
the Spanish Armada looking at the causes of the
war and the role the Abbey played in it.
Before undertaking this activity, pupils are
likely to have:
Organisation of the session
This lesson works well with the class split into
three with one group in the Spanish Barn, one in
the 800 Years Exhibition and the third in the
Chapel where the information and the
atmosphere help to bring the scene to life. There
are three work sheets for each pupil, one for
each area.
Equipment
•
•
•
Post Visit
Post visit work could include:
•
Each child will need: a copy of the work sheets
and a pencil. Clipboards are available from the
LearningLab.
Learning Objectives
To make pupils aware of the role Torre Abbey
played in the defeat of the Spanish Armada and
in particular, what it would have been like for a
sailor from the Nuestra Senora del Rosario to be
imprisoned in the Spanish Barn.
Success Criteria
By the end of the project:
•
•
•
•
All will have a greater understanding of the
Tudor Family.
All will have an understanding of the causes
of the war.
All will have an idea of what it would have
been like to be a prisoner in the Spanish
Barn.
Some will want to find out more about the
Tudors and Spanish Armada.
Looked at other sources about Torre Abbey.
Found out about and discussed the Tudor
Family and significant events such as the
Dissolution of the Monasteries.
Found out about and discussed the events
leading up to the Spanish Armada.
•
Using the record of how it would feel to be a
prisoner, a diary entry or letter from a
Spanish Prisoner describing the scene or a
newspaper article about the capture of the
Rosario.
Mystery story or role play. What happened
to the missing gold?
Suggestions for KS1
•
•
•
Use the Abbey as an introduction to
developing historical skills such as: ‘How
do we know it’s old?’
How people and events fit within a
chronological framework.
Lives of significant individuals in the past
and local history.
Suggestions for KS3
• Use maps to investigate why the Abbey was
an important place during the Spanish
Armada.
• Contact Dee Martin for further information
on 01803 20 85 11 /
dee.martin@torbay.gov.uk