Visit to Forde Abbey and Gardens (Exeter Branch)
Tue. 9 August 2022
£25
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Photo: Margaret Wilby
Our country house excursion (delayed since 2019) will be to Forde Abbey, near Chard, Somerset. Originally built over 900 years ago for Cistercian monks, it was transformed from a monastic dwelling to a post-Renaissance palace largely by the Prideaux family in the 1600s.
Special attractions include the early 17th-century Mortlake tapestries, which were based on the internationally acclaimed Raphael cartoons at London’s V&A Museum, and the Undercroft Tearoom with its medieval vaulted ceiling. The 30-acre garden will also be on show as well as a working walled kitchen garden, lakes and cascades.
The cost of £25 per person will include the hire of a coach and a tour of the house and gardens. Details, such as pick-up times and locations will be available later for those who express an interest.
Note that this is not a National Trust property and the house tour is unsuitable for wheel chair users.