Forde Abbey

Forde Abbey stands in the rolling countryside of West Dorset, a privately owned former Cistercian monastery now open to visitors. The house and its 30-acre gardens sit on an estate of 1,600 acres, farmed to support the property. The abbey church and much of the original monastery were lost after the Dissolution, leaving only fragments like two statues now displayed in the Great Hall. What remains includes the monks’ refectory, undercroft, chapter house and cloister square, later adapted into State Rooms. Prideaux’s 16th-century conversion added bedrooms and a reception area, giving the house its present form. The Grade I listed building has been home to philosophers, lawyers and aristocrats across the centuries. The abbey’s story is tied to powerful figures and pivotal events in English history. Richard de Brioniis founded the first priory in 1133, but his sister Adelicia moved the community to the River Axe in 1141, creating the new ‘Ford’ settlement. John of Ford, prior then abbot, advised King John during the papal interdict and saw the abbey grow to over 30,000 acres by the 14th century. The last abbot, Chard, surrendered the monastery peacefully in 1539. Later owners included Sir Amias Poulet, who had served as steward, and Edmund Prideaux, a Parliamentarian lawyer who remodelled the house in classical style. Visitors today walk through rooms that once housed monks and statesmen. The Great Hall displays fragments of the medieval church, while the chapter house serves as a chapel. Outside, the gardens unfold across 30 acres with water features, lawns and an arboretum. The Great Pond feeds cascades to three smaller ponds, and the Beech House offers a quiet place to watch birds. The Mermaid Pond holds the 49-metre Centenary Fountain, said to be England’s highest powered fountain. Nearby, the Victorian walled kitchen garden now grows plants for sale, linking past and present on the estate.