Forde Abbey, Thorncombe, Dorset: the south facade of the remodelled manor house

NOTES: A Cistercian monastery was built at the Manor of Thorncombe in c.1148. Rebuilding of the monastery was begun by Abbot Chard, the last Abbot, in 1521 but was interrupted by the Dissolution. In 1539, the Abbot handed the abbey over to the Crown and it was subsequently leased to a succession of private landlords for the next hundred years. In 1649 it was purchased by Edmund Prideaux, Member of Parliament for Lyme Regis and Oliver Cromwell's Solicitor General, who was largely responsible for transforming Forde Abbey from a Monastic residence into a private home. Some of the remodelling of the house has been attributed to designs by Inigo Jones, but executed after his death.