#forde abbey

[richwall101]

Forde Abbey -Somerset - UK

Forde Abbey is a privately owned former Cistercian monastery in Dorset, England, with a postal address in Chard, Somerset. The house and gardens are run as a tourist attraction while the 1,600-acre (650 ha) estate is farmed to provide additional revenue. Forde Abbey is a Grade I listed building.

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, 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. 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.

The Abbey and grounds are open to the public from the 1st March to 31st October (10.3am till 5.00pm) But the house is closed on Monday's and Saturday's

[mistervictorious]

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:

[edwardian-girl-next-door]

Forde Abbey, Chard, Somerset, UK

via michael young on flickr

[florealegiardini]

Forde Abbey House and Gardens, Dorset, England

[bwthornton]

Moorcroft Pottery 198/2 Snowdrop Collection Forde Abbey Vicky Lovatt

#moorcroft #moorcroftpottery #fordeabbey #vickylovatt #ceramics #art #stratforduponavon

Moorcroft Pottery, Moorcroft Lamps and Moorcroft Enamels, Moorcroft prices from leading stockists B&W Thornton of Stratford-upon-Avon

Moorcroft Pottery 198/2 Snowdrop Collection Forde Abbey Vicky Lovatt

#moorcroft #moorcroftpottery #fordeabbey #vickylovatt #ceramics #art #stratforduponavon

[krautjunker]

The rambling beauty of Forde Abbey in winter

For Alice and Julian Kennard, preparing for Christmas at Forde Abbey is a communal activity, as everyone works together to decorate the 900-

[the-home]

[betomad]

Forde Abbey and Gardens, UK