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Profile on: Agatha Christie

3rd December 2020

Categories: Visitor News

If you’ve ever visited Torquay, you’ll already know that Agatha Christie is a big deal in the English Riviera, she owned Greenway near Brixham, which is now managed by the National Trust, and has a garden in her honour at Torre Abbey Museum.

As she’s such an important part of Devon’s culture, here’s everything you need to know about the Queen of Crime.

Dame Agatha Christie was born Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller on 15^th September 1890 in Torquay. Her family were considered to be wealthy and she and her two older siblings were mostly home schooled, though for a time, she did attend Miss Guyer’s Girls’ School, which was also in Torquay. The family lived at a villa in the town known as Ashfield and Christie herself stayed there from birth until her first marriage. It remained under her ownership until 1940 when she sold it. Ashfield is now a housing estate, but if you visit the area, you can still find where it was as there is a blue plaque marking the site.

According to biographies of Christie, she didn’t get on well at Miss Guyer’s Girls’ School finding it far too disciplined compared to the education she received under her mother and siblings. As such she was sent to boarding school in Paris where it was assumed she would become a professional musician, but thankfully for fans of Poirot, this was a short lived ambition.

She met and married Archibald Christie on her return to the UK in 1912 and while he was away in the army during WW1, she spent her time working as a member of the Voluntary Aid Detachment of the Red Cross, based at the Town Hall Red Cross Hospital in Torquay. When the war ended and Archie returned, the pair moved to London where they rented a flat. This isn’t where her connection with Torquay ends though, the town inspired many of her books and featured in even more of them. Her first detective novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles was written in 1916 and featured Poirot for the first time. The soon to be world famous detective was inspired by the many Belgian refugees that settled in Torquay during her time as a nurse and so began her legacy as the Queen of Crime.

After this, references to Torquay and the wider Devon area can be found in several of her novels. And Then There Were None is inspired by the hotel on Burgh Island, just a stone’s through from the English Riviera. Burgh Island can also be seen referenced in Evil Under the Sun. The Peril at End House and The Body in Library both feature Torquay’s Imperial Hotel (though under the name the Majestic Hotel). The Imperial is also named in The Sleeping Murder. Further afield, Dartmoor features as the setting for The Sittaford Mystery and the Idol House of Astarte.

Agatha and Archie were divorced in 1928 and Christie headed abroad once more before marrying an archaeologist, Max Mallowan. They remained married until her death in 1976.

Christie and her new husband returned to her Devon roots in 1938, acquiring the Greenway Estate as their summer home. Though they spent many summers here, she frequently stayed at Abney Hall, which was owned by her brother in law and the pair had their own home in Chelsea. It was in London that she returned to nursing during the second world war.

One of the biggest enduring mysteries of Agatha Christie wasn’t featured in one of her books though, instead surrounding her own real life disappearance.

All we know for sure is that in 1926, after being asked for a divorce, she disappeared from their home. The following morning, her car was discovered above a quarry with nothing but an expired driving licence and a few clothes inside.

The search for her was even reported as far away as New York and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the Sherlock Holmes stories, even got involved. Eventually, ten days later, she was discovered living at a hotel in Harrogate under an assumed name. Until her death, she maintained that she had no memory of how she ended up in Harrogate or how she made the journey. In fact, her autobiography makes no reference to the incident and several doctors diagnosed genuine memory loss.

One final fun fact – did you know that Agatha Christie was investigated by MI5? Apparently, MI5 became very concerned about her book N or M which focused on the hunt for a pair of deadly fifth columnists in war time England and had a character called Major Bletchley. They thought she had a spy at Bletchley Park – turns out though she just picked the name after passing through on the train!

Want to find out more about Agatha Christie?

Torre Abbey in Torquay has a garden dedicated to her, the garden features a host of poisonous plants – many of which are used in her novels. Christie was fascinated by pharmacology and during her time as a nurse, she studied poisons and their effect on the body.

Greenway is also another place to visit to see how the family lived and how they spent their summers. The National Trust regularly hosts Christie themed events and uses the house as a venue to screen films inspired by her work.

The Agatha Christie Mile
In Torquay, this walk takes you around the places associated with Agatha Christie, you can also find a bust that was erected in her honour near the harbour and visit the town’s museum.

Burgh Island, located nearby and accessible via sea tractor, Burgh Island is the setting for several mysteries – plus, who doesn’t want to travel by historic sea tractor?

While you’re in Torquay, Brixham and Paignton, you’ll find several references to Agatha Christie and her life in Devon – keep an eye out for them!