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Agatha Christie appeal honoured in Torquay
11/19/2009 10:59:00 AM
Torquay¹s oldest building, Torre Abbey - which is now part gallery, part historic house and part museum - has created a new tribute to Agatha Christie in the form of a particularly potent new garden feature.
Agatha Christie¹s Potent Plants is the creation of Torre Abbey Head Gardener Ali Marshall, who in true crime writing style researched around 80 of Agatha Christie¹s novels and short stories in just six months to come up with the Abbey¹s own unique commemoration.
The new feature links the author¹s interest in poisonous plants, her wartime work as a pharmacy dispenser and the medicinal plants that Torre Abbey¹s medieval canons might have used.
With Poirotesque determination and attention to detail Ali Marshall, with the help of experts at Torquay¹s Agatha Christie Shop, has designed a garden with a central display of potent plants surrounded by plants that serve as Agatha Christie clues, solved only with a knowledge of the plots of some of the author¹s short stories. What better way could there be for Agatha Christie fans to exercise their 'little grey cells'?
Do not touch is the warning for all visitors to the new garden and a skull-rating denotes the level of toxicity of each of the plants. Ali Marshall explains: ³While this might sound extremely dangerous for staff and public alike we have been very careful in our choice of plants, substituting less potent garden cultivars where possible. This is a garden designed to entertain - not provide murderous opportunities! The fruit stones of the Prunus family, for example, once processed, produce cyanide, used to lethal effect in "The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side" and ³A Pocketful of Rye² amongst others. Monkshood and Foxgloves also play a big part, as do Poppies and Yellow Jasmine. Other plants however have a more positive purpose. A Kilmarnock Willow (aspirin) takes centre stage while Valerian and Fennel owe their inclusion to their reputed therapeutic benefits.²
The plants in the garden have been chosen to represent the many ways Agatha Christie developed her much-loved novels and stories. From poisons to plot development, as clues or as backgrounds to mysterious and chilling events, the plants have earned their place as characters in their own right sometimes good, sometimes bad, but always an integral part of the story.
Editor¹s Notes
Agatha Christie's Potent Plants is in the main Torre Abbey gardens, open daily from 10-6 in summer (10-5 winter). Closed January and on Mondays in February. The new garden is included in the Torre Abbey admission price of
£5.75 adults, £4.80 concessions, £2.45 children (under 5s free) and £14.20 for Family (2 adults + 3 children). Talks and tours can also be booked.
Agatha Christie Poison
³Poison has a certain appeal Šit has not the crudeness of the revolver bullet or the blunt instrument.² Agatha Christie, They do it with Mirrors.
Poison was Agatha Christie¹s favourite method of dispatching victims, responsible for deaths in over half of her 66 novels. Compare this with Sherlock Holmes¹ 10 poison victims and it¹s clear that murder, or attempted murder, by poison could be considered her hallmark. Cyanide appears most often followed by arsenic, strychnine, digitalis and morphine.
After working with one of Torquay¹s most experienced pharmacists Agatha Christie qualified as a pharmacy assistant. Her knowledge of chemicals was very useful in developing her plot twists, allowing plenty of opportunity to explore more unusual methods of murder and mislead and confuse characters in her stories.
In her lifetime Agatha Christie wrote over 80 novels and short story collections and over a dozen plays. She remains the most widely read English author of all time with over two billion books sold worldwide.
Some of the Potent Plants:
Cyanide, Prunus family From the seeds of the prunus family. Potent and rapid causing breathing difficulties, convulsions and asphyxia. (Sparkling Cyanide, The Mirror Crack¹d Š) 5 SKULLS Aconite, Monkshood Rapid onset of symptoms including stomach problems, numbness and tingling. Death occurs within hours. (4.50 from Paddington, They do it with Mirrors) 4 SKULLS Belladonna, Deadly Nightshade Ancient herbal remedy with unpleasant side
effects: hallucinations, delirium, and convulsions. (The Caribbean Mystery, The Big Four) 2 SKULLS
Torre Abbey - the biggest surviving mediaeval monastery in Devon and Cornwall. It was built in 1196 as a Premonstratensian monastery and today enjoys one of the finest seafront locations on the South West coastline.
Able to boast the third largest art collection in Devon, the Abbey is part-gallery, part-museum, and part-historic house. The Abbey re-opened its doors to the public in 2007, following a massive three-year, £6.5-million restoration project officially, the Heritage Lottery Fund¹s flagship project for South West England.
For more information about Torre Abbey visit www.torre-abbey.org.uk
For more information about The English Riviera visit www.englishriviera.co.uk
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