Spring at Forde Abbey
After a winter of wind, rain and floods. Then a spring of snow. Today normal spring service was returned. I love spring. Then I also love autumn, winter an summer. But spring is definitely in my top four. I’m just happy to have another season to enjoy.
Snowdrops
The year gets going at Forde Abbey with snowdrop weekends. These are so beautiful.
A visit to Forde Abbey in February should be on your todo list. This year my Sat Nav kept sending me down flooded lanes. So my advice is to keep to the main roads and follow the brown tourist signs to the abbey.
Forde Abbey
I wanted to say a few words about the abbey, but will leave this to their leaflet. When you get there you can read your own copy.
Founded by Cistercian monks 800 years ago it became one of the richest and most learned monasteries in the country. After this dissolution in 1539 the Abbey lay empty for 100 years, until in 1649 it was transformed into the magnificent house you see today. The Abbey now stands at the heart of a family run rural estate.
Crocuses
This is Crocus Week at the Abbey. They take over from the snowdrops covering the pathways and lawns.
Most of the flowers were still to open, so there is still time to visit.
Back to the leaflet…
30 acres of gardens surround this great building. The Great Pond is monastic but the chain of ponds and cascade leading from it was laid out in the early 1700s and is one of the earliest examples of landscape gardening. From these early beginnings four generations of the Roper family have created a garden worthy of the house it surrounds.
Crocus flowers were planted at the Abbey for over a hundred years. Over the decades they have naturalised across all of the 30 acres of the garden.
Daffodils
All around the garden are wild daffodils (Narcissus lobularis). These turned out to be my favourites.
What’s Next…
Easter is just around the corner. Time to follow the Easter Trail. I did not see any rabbits today, perhaps they were in the big house rehearsing with the Easter Bunny. That would explain why only the gardens are open today.
I hope to return in April for the Tulip Extravaganza – “Nothing screams spring like the tulips.”
Time to come clean. This is a blog about Somerset but the Abbey finds itself on the wrong side of the border. You can see Somerset in the background of the pictures, but the house stands in Dorset.
Read more: https://www.fordeabbey.co.uk/