Forde Abbey - House and Gardens

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 cloisters as well as the monk's accommodation, the Upper Refectory and the Undercroft, which was the abbey's working area, and the Chapter House, 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 (120,000 m2) including several water features, planted gardens and an arboretum. 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, 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 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 (49 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.