Forde Abbey Estate in Dorsetshire and its Red Ruby Devon Cattle.

I had read somewhere that at this time of year Forde Abbey's garden and arboretum are well worth a visit for their autumnal colours so I decided on a short hop over the border into Dorsetshire.  I followed the well sign-posted route from the A30 at Cricket St Thomas. The final mile or so takes you down some narrow lanes - some caution is needed - I met an oncoming truck and tyre marks on the road suggest some heavy braking has been required!

Forde Abbey.

The Cistercian Monastery at Forde Abbey on the banks of the River Axe was established in 1148.  It prospered until 1539 when it was handed over to the Crown at the time of Henry the Vlll's dissolution of the monasteries.

In 1649 the estate was purchased by Edmund Prideaux, MP for Lyme Regis, an ardent supporter of the Parliamentary cause.  He turned the Abbey into a private residence.  Prideaux was Oliver Cromwell's Attorney General and also the architect of the first national postal service.

Prideaux's son,  also called Edmund, was unlucky enough to have once entertained, in 1680, the Duke of Monmouth.  Hence his arrest on a charge of high treason  after the Battle of Sedgemoor in1685.  The notorious Judge Jeffries demanded, and received, £15,000 to save him from the gallows.

In 1702 Edmund's daughter Margaret inherited the Abbey and moved in with her husband Francis Gwyn, a politician who became Queen Anne's Secretary of War.  The Gwyns ownership of the Estate lasted until 1846.

Mrs Bertram Evans bought the Abbey and Estate in 1863 and it remains in the hands of her descendants to this day.

The Great Pond.

While enjoying a stroll around the gardens, arboretum and lakes I came across the estate's herd of Red Ruby Devon Cattle in the adjacent fields - they certainly are a striking colour.  I can't recall ever seeing such cattle before I moved to South Somerset yet now I have spotted them at Knightshayes Court in Devonshire, in fields around Chard and also grazing in the shadow of Brent Knoll further north.  According to the Devon Cattle Breeders Society: "Grass fed Red Ruby Devon beef simply can't be beaten for marbling, texture, flavour and tenderness".  I will have to try some!

Red Ruby Devon Cattle on the Forde Abbey Estate.

I did not have time to tour the Abbey itself so a second visit will be needed - another chance to view the beautiful Centenary Fountain in action!