 The only pieces of the former abbey to escape demolition were some of the outer buildings - which were retained as farm buildings - and the tower from the former abbot's lodgings, the only part which remains to this day.Over the next eighty years, the Buckfast site changed hands four times, finally falling into the hands of Dr. James Gale in 1872.Ten years later, Dr. Gale decided to sell the property, but was keen to offer it to a religious community.