Forde Abbey
Situated close to the tri-county borders of Devon, Dorset and Somerset, at a tranquil location alongside the River Axe, is the privately-owned Forde Abbey. A mansion that was once a monastery, surely few buildings in England can reflect the often turbulent history of the nation so visibly.
Forde Abbey was originally a Cistercian establishment, but was sold into private ownership as part of Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries during the 1530s. The last abbot of the monastery was Thomas Chard whose name is reflected in the name of the local village of Chard. In the 17th century the house passed into hands of the Attorney-General Edmund Prideaux, a politician who had done much to aid the rise to power of Oliver Cromwell during the English Civil War.
Medieval, Tudor, Jacobean and Queen Anne styles compete for your attention, reflected in the architecture décor and furniture. Adorning the walls is an impressive set of tapestries, copied from original Raphael designs for the Sistine Chapel. The award-winning gardens have been described by one eminent expert as ‘one of the greatest in the West Country.’ They include a water feature that boasts the highest powered fountain in England.