The Agatha Christie Gallery At The Torquay Museum

I have wanted to visit the Torquay Museum for many years now, and this year, I finally got my chance. My interest in the Torquay Museum is, of course, linked to Agatha Christie. The Torquay Museum is the only museum in the UK with a permanent, dedicated, Agatha Christie gallery. Agatha was born in Torquay and her affection Devon in general, and the towns of the English Riviera in particular, never faded, her holiday home Greenway was in nearby Galmpton. This museum is one of the highlights on the Agatha Christie trail that takes in key sites in the town related to the author, although, it has to be said, it is quite a walk uphill to get there!

The Agatha Christie gallery is small, but packed full of wonderful things. The chief attractions are costumes from both the ITV Poirot series, as worn by the brilliant David Suchet, and from the BBC classic Miss Marple series, as worn by Joan Hickson. There are also reconstructions of rooms from ‘Whitehaven Mansions’ from the ITV series, in that inimitable, art deco style that the series adopted. These rooms include Poirot’s office, where so many key scenes took place.

All around the walls of the gallery there are information panels with photographs, highlighting key details about Agatha’s life and work. If you are, like me, obsessed with all the different editions of her books, you are in for a treat, as there are cabinets filled with rare editions of her key works, some with really incredible cover art work. There are also items of memorabilia linked to some of the film adaptations of her work, including those iconic Peter Ustinov films.

After visiting the gallery, you must visit the museum shop. Not only does it have an extensive range of new Agatha Christie books, both novels and biographies, but it also has a brilliant used book section, which features a range of classic covers from the likes of Fontana and Pan. The books are reasonably priced and you can pick up some absolute beauties like the three I bought which are shown below. There are also items like tote bags, magnets, bookmarks and postcards that are exclusive designs that you can only find in the museum shop.

Torquay Museum, 529 Babbacombe Road, Torquay, Devon, TQ1 1HG

 

 

 

 

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