Forde Abbey
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Forde Abbey is a privately owned former
Cistercian The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...
monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...
in
Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...
,
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, with a postal address in
Chard, Somerset Chard is a town and a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the English county of Somerset. It lies on the A30 road near the Devon and Dorset borders, south west of Yeovil. The parish has a population of approximately 14,000 and, at an el ...
. The house and gardens are run as a
tourist attraction A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement. Types Places of natural beaut ...
while the estate is farmed to provide additional revenue. Forde Abbey is a Grade I
listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
.


History

Between 1133 and 1136, wealthy nobleman Richard de Brioniis built a priory on his land at Brightley (meaning "bright" or "clear" pasture) and invited Gilbert, Abbot of Waverley in
Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...
, to send 12 monks to form a new
Cistercian The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...
community there. One story is that the agricultural land surrounding the new priory was insufficiently fertile, forcing the monks to consider returning to the mother house in 1141. However, Adelicia de Brioniis, the sister of Richard and successor to his estate, offered them an alternative site close to the River Axe in the manor of Thorncombe. Here, between 1141 and 1148, they built a new priory which came to be known as "Ford" due to its proximity to an old river crossing. The monastery was dedicated to the
Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...
. John of Ford (c. 1140 – 21 April 1214) was the prior of Forde Abbey, then from 1186 abbot of its daughter house of Bindon, and between 1191 and 1214 the abbot of Forde. He was a friend and ally of King John during the papal interdict, receiving remuneration from the king. The foundation grew and became very wealthy, eventually possessing lands over by the 14th century. Sometime in the 13th Century, the body of St. Wulfric of Haselbury was buried in the western transept of the abbey's church, after an attempt by
Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...
monks from
Montacute Priory Montacute Priory was a Cluniac priory of the Benedictine order in Montacute, Somerset, England. History It was founded between 1078 and 1102 by William, Count of Mortain, in face of a threat that if he did not do so, the King would take the land ...
to steal the body of the saint. The third abbot, Abbot Baldwin, became
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. Abbot Chard, the last abbot of Forde at the time of the dissolution of the monasteries, surrendered the abbey to the Crown peacefully in 1539. The abbey buildings and lands were leased in 1540 to Richard Pollard (1505-1542), second son of Sir Lewis Pollard (c.1465-1526) of
King's Nympton King's Nympton (Latinised to ''Nymet Regis'') is a village, parish and former manor in the North Devon district, in Devon, England, in the heart of the rolling countryside between Exmoor and Dartmoor, some 4½ miles () S.S.W. of South Molton and ...
, Devon,
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from 1514 to 1526 Richard Pollard was later knighted and his son sold Forde Abbey to his relative, Sir Amias Poulet of
Hinton St George Hinton St George is a village and parish in Somerset, England, situated outside Crewkerne, south west of Yeovil. The village has a population of 442. It has a wide main street lined with hamstone cottages, some thatched. The village has a ...
,
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. Sir Amias and his father before him had acted as Steward of the Abbey and its property while it was a monastery. In 1580–81, Sir Amias Poulet was licensed to alienate lands belonging to that abbey to William Rosewell, the 20-year-old son of
William Rosewell William Rosewell may refer to: * William Rosewell (Solicitor-General) (c. 1520–1566), Solicitor-General to Queen Elizabeth * William Rosewell (gentleman) (c. 1500–1570), gentleman and landholder of Loxton, Somerset * William Rosewell (apothe ...
,
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. Forde Abbey probably changed hands about the same time. William Rosewell of Forde died in 1593 and Forde Abbey was left to his wife Anne. Their son Henry probably took ownership on maturity in 1611. Henry became Sir Henry Rosewell of Forde in 1619. Forde Abbey was held for nearly seventy years by the Rosewells until it was sold in 1649 to Edmund Prideaux (died 1659), Member of Parliament for
Lyme Regis Lyme Regis ( ) is a town in west Dorset, England, west of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester and east of Exeter. Sometimes dubbed the "Pearl of Dorset", it lies by the English Channel at the Dorset–Devon border. It has noted fossils in cliffs and ...
and Treasurer of the
Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...
, London. He supported the Parliamentary cause during the
English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...
and was the
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for most of the
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. He made a fortune practising law and running the Parliamentary postal service. Having purchased the property he converted the buildings into his private home,Forde Abbey website - History page
/ref> with several classicising features, including the small loggia. The house remained largely unchanged during the 18th century, though the gardens were created during this period. In 1815, the house was rented to the philosopher
Jeremy Bentham Jeremy Bentham (; 4 February Dual dating, 1747/8 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S. 5 February 1748 Old Style and New Style dates, N.S.– 6 June 1832) was an English philosopher, jurist, and social reformer regarded as the founder of mo ...
. During the 19th century the house had a succession of owners, some of whom neglected the house while others attempted to renovate it. In 1905, the cousin of the last owner inherited the house and moved in with her husband Freeman Roper, whose descendants still own and occupy the house and estates.


House and gardens

Much of the original monastery, including the abbey church was demolished in the period after the dissolution; only two statues, now on display in the Great Hall, have been found from the original church. The monastic parts of the current house are the Great Hall, the north side of the original square of the
cloister A cloister (from Latin , "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open Arcade (architecture), arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle (architecture), quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cat ...
s as well as the monks' accommodation, the Upper Refectory and the Undercroft, which was the abbey's working area, and the
Chapter House A chapter house or chapterhouse is a building or room that is part of a cathedral, monastery or collegiate church in which meetings are held. When attached to a cathedral, the cathedral chapter meets there. In monasteries, the whole communi ...
, which has been converted into a chapel. Other rooms have been subsequently converted into State Rooms and show no evidence of their earlier use. Prideaux added some bedrooms and a reception area in the front of the building as part of his conversion of the abbey to a private house. The gardens of Forde Abbey are one of the main attractions. They are listed as Grade II* in the
National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, ...
as a "historically important garden". The Roper family has maintained and improved the gardens during their tenure. The gardens cover including several water features, planted gardens and an
arboretum An arboretum (: arboreta) is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees and shrubs of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, many modern arbor ...
. The lawns were laid out in front of the house in the 18th century and many of the trees were planted in the 19th century. The Great Pond, which was originally the head pond for a
watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as mill (grinding), milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in ...
, feeds a series of cascades down the hill to three smaller ponds which were a part of the gardens laid down in the 18th century. On the edge of the Great Pond is the Beech House, a structure formed from
beech Beech (genus ''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to subtropical (accessory forest element) and temperate (as dominant element of Mesophyte, mesophytic forests) Eurasia and North America. There are 14 accepted ...
hedges which was created in the 1930s to provide a bird watching hide overlooking the pond. There is also a Bog Garden by the pond. In the second largest pond, the Mermaid pond, the Roper family installed the Centenary Fountain in 2005 to commemorate the centenary of their ownership of Forde Abbey. At in height, it is claimed to be the highest powered fountain in England.Forde Abbey website - Garden page
/ref> Closer to the house surrounding the Long pond, there is extensive planting of flowering plants which provide a colourful sight in the summer months. Behind the house, there is a Victorian walled kitchen garden which originally supplied the house with food but is now mostly used as a nursery to provide plants for sale to the visitors.


Other burials at Forde Abbey

*
Renaud de Courtenay Renaud de Courtenay, (d. 1164) was seigneur of Courtenay and fought in the Second Crusade with Louis VII of France. His fate is unknown, either losing his lands from an argument with Louis VII or dying on crusade and his lands going to his daughte ...
* Edward de Courtenay, 3rd Earl of Devon * Hugh Courtenay (KG)


References


Further reading

*Frances B. James (1888), 'Sir Henry Rosewell: a Devon worthy', ''Trans. Devonshire Assoc.'', 20, 113–122. *C. Sherwin (1927), 'The History of Ford Abbey', ''Transactions of the Devonshire Assoc.'', 59, 249–264. * Heath, Sidney.
The Story of Ford Abbey: from the earliest times to the present day
' (London: F. Griffiths, 1911)


External links


Forde Abbey House & Gardens

Its entry at parksandgardens.ac.uk

Thorncombe village website
{{Authority control Country houses in Dorset Gardens in Dorset Monasteries in Dorset Grade I listed houses in Dorset Christian monasteries established in the 1140s Historic house museums in Dorset Religious museums in England 12th-century establishments in England Grade II* listed parks and gardens in Dorset Monasteries dissolved under the English Reformation