Forde Abbey and Gardens
One of the greatest Gardens in the West Country
Alan Titchmarsh.
Wandering round the 30 acres in perfect weather was the
highlight of our holiday. The Abbey was
founded by Cistercian monks over 800 year ago and was one of the richest and
most learned monasteries in the country.
After the dissolution it was empty for 100 years and then was
transformed into a magnificent house which has been maintained by the Roper
family.
The Great Pond - which was originally the head pond for a watermill,
feeds a series of cascades down the hill to the three smaller ponds. On the edge of the Great Pond is the Beech
House made in the1930’s to provide a bird watching hide.
In the second largest pond the Mermaid pond, the family installed
the Centenary Fountain in 2005 (160’) to commemorate a 100 years of their
ownership.
The original Victorian kitchen garden is now used as a
nursery to provide plants for sale to visitors.
After lunch I left MTL soaking up the sun and did a
lightening tour of the house, which wasn’t easy as the guides are eager to
impart information. I was itching to get
out into the heavenly gardens and photos were not allowed in the house. I enjoyed all the rooms and remember
particularly a portrait of a strange looking woman who had just ‘left the
asylum.’ And there was a most beautiful
plant- lined corridor with sunlight streaming in where I was sorely tempted to break
the rules.
.I despaired
of ever getting these photos posted: it wouldn’t post with labels or without
and after about the fifth time of trying I gave up and then saw posting was
taking place.
The fourth photo down is Blacksmith Hill with
the statue of the Blacksmith. He is
supposedly throwing a stone towards Winsham, the local village further up the
hill.
The fifth photo down is the tear- drop- shaped
Mermaid pond. It once was the home of a
mini replica of the Mermaid that sits at the entrance to Copenhagen harbour. However ‘she did not sit well in the pond’ so
Mrs Roper replaced her with ’Leda and the Swan’ by Enzo Platzotta.
I think Alan Titchmarsh got it right
9 comments:
Lovely!
You can really feel the weight of the centuries in that first photo. As always, nice work.
I imagine that someday there will be a great painting of me "entering" the asylum. LOL
Very cool.
Cheers.
Rog: I'm kicking myself for the shots I didin't take.
UB: just for once the sky was cloudless.
#Granny Annie: I'm chortling:)
Randall: isn't it though?
It sounds lovely and I like the idea of the portrait of the woman just leaving the asylum, although in those days there were all manner of reasons that someone might go there in the first place.
A naughty indoor photo tip is to make sure the flash is switched off.
Rashbre: fortuitously I never learned how to do that:)
I visited the Abbey yesterday, on the 8th. I was also struck by the 'asylum' picture. I did some digging around and turns out to be 'Monca Quirk, just out of the asylum' by the artist Robert Lenkiewicz
http://www.artvalue.com/auctionresult--lenkiewicz-robert-1941-2002-un-monca-quirk-just-out-of-the-as-1763289.htm
T Ludlow: how splendid. Thank you so much:)
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