Forde Abbey:
A privately owned former Cistercian monastery in Dorset, England.
Notes:
Cistercians are members of a Catholic monastic order, named from Cîteaux, France (1098).
All abbeys are monasteries, but not all monasteries are abbeys.
Origin:
Between 1133 and 1136, wealthy nobleman Richard de Brioniis built a priory on his land at Brightley and invited Gilbert, Abbot of Waverley in Surrey, to send 12 monks to form a new Cistercian community there.
Conversion:
Much of the original monastery, including the abbey church, was demolished.
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 monks' 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.
Recent Photography:
Forde Abbey:
The Cloisters:
The Monks Dormitory:
The Saloon:
The State Rooms:
The Upper Refectory:
The Garden: