Forde Abbey
Encyclopedia
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
in Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The house and gardens are run as a tourist attraction
Tourist attraction
A tourist attraction is a place of interest where tourists visit, typically for its inherent or exhibited cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, or amusement opportunities....
while the 1600 acres (6.5 km²) estate is farmed to provide additional revenue. Forde Abbey is a Grade I listed building.
History
Between 1133-36, wealthy nobleman Richard de Brioniis built a priory on his land at BrightleyBrightley Priory
Brightley Priory in Devon was originally built in the 12th-century as a Cistercian monastery. It was abandoned by the monks after only 5 years, who moved to a nearby site which became Forde Abbey.-History:...
(meaning "bright" or "clear" pasture) and invited Gilbert, Abbot of Waverley
Waverley Abbey
Waverley Abbey was the first Cistercian abbey in England, founded in 1128 by William Giffard, Bishop of Winchester. It is situated about one mile south of Farnham, Surrey, in a bend of the River Wey.-History:...
in Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, to send 12 monks to form a new Cistercian 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
Thorncombe
Thorncombe is a village and civil parish in west Dorset, England, situated on the borders of Somerset and Devon, five miles south east of Chard. The civil parish has a population of 714 , and 8.4% of dwellings are second homes.-Geography:...
. Here, between 1141–48, 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.
John of Ford
John of Ford
John of Ford was the prior of the Cistercian monastery of Forde, 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...
(c. 1140 – 21 April 1214) was the prior of Forde Abbey, then from 1186 abbot of its daughter house of Bindon
Bindon Abbey
Bindon Abbey was a Cistercian monastery, of which only ruins remain, on the River Frome about half a mile east of Wool in the Purbeck District, Dorset, England.- History :...
, and between 1191 and 1214 the abbot of Forde. He was a friend and ally of King John
John of England
John , also known as John Lackland , was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death...
during the papal interdict
Interdict (Roman Catholic Church)
In Roman Catholic canon law, an interdict is an ecclesiastical censure that excludes from certain rites of the Church individuals or groups, who nonetheless do not cease to be members of the Church.-Distinctions in canon law:...
, receiving remuneration from the king. The foundation grew and became very wealthy, eventually possessing lands over 30000 acres (121.4 km²) by the 14th century. The third abbot, Abbot Baldwin, became Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
. Abbot Chard, the last abbot of Forde at the time of the dissolution of the monasteries
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...
, surrendered the abbey to the Crown peacefully in 1539. The abbey buildings and lands were leased to Richard Pollard. Richard Pollard was later knighted and Sir Richard Pollard’s son sold Forde Abbey to his relative, Sir Amias Poulet of Hinton St George
Hinton St George
Hinton St George is a village and parish in Somerset, England, situated outside of Crewkerne, south west of Yeovil in the South Somerset district. The village has a population of 404....
, Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
. 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
William Rosewell was the Solicitor-General to Queen Elizabeth between 1559 and 1566.William Rosewell was born about 1520, the son of William Rosewell of Loxton, Somerset, England. He came to some prominence as Solicitor-General to Queen Elizabeth. He appears in the list of Queen’s Counsel between...
, Solicitor-General. 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
Henry Rosewell
Sir Henry Rosewell of Forde Abbey, Devon, was a puritan and supporter of the New World colonies.-Early years and education:Henry Rosewell was born on 1 November 1590 at Forde Abbey in Devon...
of Forde in 1619. Forde Abbey was held for nearly seventy years by the Rosewells until it was sold in 1649 to Edmund Prideaux
Edmund Prideaux
Sir Edmund Prideaux was an English lawyer and Member of Parliament, who supported the Parliamentary cause during the English Civil War. He was briefly solicitor-general but chose to resign rather than participate in the regicide of Charles I and was afterwards attorney-general a position he held...
(died 1659), Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Lyme Regis
Lyme Regis
Lyme Regis is a coastal town in West Dorset, England, situated 25 miles west of Dorchester and east of Exeter. The town lies in Lyme Bay, on the English Channel coast at the Dorset-Devon border...
. He supported the Parliamentary cause during the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
and was the attorney-general for most of the Interregnum. He made a fortune practising law and running the Parliamentary postal service. Having purchased the property he converted the buildings into his private home.
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
Jeremy Bentham was an English jurist, philosopher, and legal and social reformer. He became a leading theorist in Anglo-American philosophy of law, and a political radical whose ideas influenced the development of welfarism...
. During the 19th century the house was owned by 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 cloisterCloister
A cloister is a rectangular open space surrounded by covered walks or open galleries, with open arcades on the inner side, running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth...
s as well as the monk's accommodation, the Upper Refectory and the Undercroft which was the abbey's working area and the Chapter House
Chapter house
A chapter house or chapterhouse is a building or room attached to a cathedral or collegiate church in which meetings are held. They can also be found in medieval monasteries....
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. The Roper family has maintained and improved the gardens during their tenure. The gardens cover 30 acres (121,405.8 m²) including several water features, planted gardens and an arboretum
Arboretum
An arboretum in a narrow sense is a collection of trees only. Related collections include a fruticetum , and a viticetum, a collection of vines. More commonly, today, an arboretum is a botanical garden containing living collections of woody plants intended at least partly for scientific study...
. 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
Watermill
A watermill is a structure that uses a water wheel or turbine to drive a mechanical process such as flour, lumber or textile production, or metal shaping .- History :...
, 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
Beech is a genus of ten species of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia and North America.-Habit:...
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 centennial of their ownership of Forde Abbey. At 160 feet (48.8 m) in height, it is claimed to be the highest powered fountain in England. 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.
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', Trans. Devonshire Assoc., 59, 249-264.
- Heath, SidneySidney HeathSidney Heath was a notable English landscape artist, illustrator and author of books on local topography, history and architecture. He specialised in drawings of old buildings....
. The Story of Ford Abbey: from the earliest times to the present day (London: F. Griffiths, 1911)