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.
John of Ford (c. 1140 – 21 April 1214) was the prior of Forde Abbey, then from 1186 abbot of its daughter
house of Bindon, and between 1191 and 1214 the abbot of Forde. He was a friend and ally of
King John during the
papal interdict, receiving remuneration from the king. The foundation grew and became very wealthy, eventually possessing lands over by the 14th century. Sometime in the 13th Century, the body of
St. Wulfric of Haselbury was buried in the western transept of the abbey's church, after an attempt by
Benedictine monks from
Montacute Priory to steal the body of the saint. The third abbot, Abbot
Baldwin, became
Archbishop of Canterbury. Abbot Chard, the last abbot of Forde at the time of the
dissolution of the monasteries, surrendered the abbey to the Crown peacefully in 1539. The abbey buildings and lands were leased in 1540 to
Richard Pollard (1505-1542), second son of Sir
Lewis Pollard (c.1465-1526) of
King's Nympton, Devon,
Justice of the Common Pleas from 1514 to 1526 Richard Pollard was later knighted and his son sold Forde Abbey to his relative, Sir Amias Poulet of
Hinton St George,
Somerset. Sir Amias and his father before him had acted as Steward of the Abbey and its property while it was a monastery. In 1580–81, Sir Amias Poulet was licensed to alienate lands belonging to that abbey to William Rosewell, the 20-year-old son of
William Rosewell,
Solicitor-General. Forde Abbey probably changed hands about the same time. William Rosewell of Forde died in 1593 and Forde Abbey was left to his wife Anne. Their son Henry probably took ownership on maturity in 1611. Henry became Sir
Henry Rosewell of Forde in 1619. Forde Abbey was held for nearly seventy years by the Rosewells until it was sold in 1649 to
Edmund Prideaux (died 1659),
Member of Parliament for
Lyme Regis and Treasurer of the
Inner Temple, London. He supported the Parliamentary cause during the
English Civil War and was the
attorney-general for most of the
Interregnum. He made a fortune practising law and running the Parliamentary postal service. Having purchased the property he converted the buildings into his private home, with several classicising features, including the small loggia. The house remained largely unchanged during the 18th century, though the gardens were created during this period. In 1815, the house was rented to the philosopher
Jeremy Bentham. During the 19th century the house had a succession of owners, some of whom neglected the house while others attempted to renovate it. In 1905, the cousin of the last owner inherited the house and moved in with her husband Freeman Roper, whose descendants still own and occupy the house and estates. Following the death of her father Mark Roper, the most recent owner (as of 2026) is Alice Kennard. ==House and gardens==