Forde Abbey and Gardens

A long pond edged with lavender in the gardens of Forde Abbey, with the abbey behind — Photo: Michael Dibb

A former Cistercian monastery turned private family home, set on the banks of the River Axe with around 30 acres of award-winning gardens and ponds. The gardens change through the seasons, from spring bulbs and tulips to summer roses and dahlias, autumn colour in the arboretum, and a working walled kitchen garden growing vegetables and pumpkins.

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Times, prices and access can change. Check before you travel.Last updated 2 Oct 2026.Source (where this listing came from, opens in a new tab)

Places nearby

Open all year
Lyme Regis Beaches
Lyme Regis · West Dorset · Beaches
Lyme Regis has four beaches. Front Beach, part sand and part pebble, is the most popular for swimming and paddling, with RNLI lifeguards in peak season. Monmouth Beach leads to the ammonite pavement and the Undercliffs nature reserve. East Cliff Beach is rich in fossils, but its cliffs are unstable and it can be cut off at high tide. Dogs can use every beach except Front Beach all year.
Open all year
Sherborne Castle and Gardens
Sherborne · West Dorset · Heritage
- Family-friendly
- Dog-friendly
A historic house built by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1594 and home to the Digby family since 1617, near Sherborne. Visitors can join a guided tour of the state rooms and Tudor kitchen, explore the Family Museum in the cellars, and wander 42 acres of landscape gardens around a 50-acre lake with features such as Raleigh's Seat and the Fossil House. Family trails run through the season, and dogs on short leads are welcome in the gardens.
Open all year
Lyme Regis Marine Aquarium
Lyme Regis · West Dorset · Nature and wildlife
- Family-friendly
- Rainy day
A small family run aquarium on the Jurassic Coast, showing seashore and deeper water creatures. Visitors can feed a shoal of grey mullet by hand, hold a starfish, and get close to lobsters and crabs, alongside tanks of bass, wrasse, blennies and dogfish. There are also displays on local maritime history and footage of Lyme Bay's reefs and dolphins.

Coming up

6 to 14 November
Bridport Literary Festival
Arts and culture
Bridport · West Dorset
- Family-friendly
An annual week-long festival bringing authors to venues in and around Bridport, including novelists, historians, biographers, nature writers and poets. The programme also features musical, children's and culinary events, suiting book lovers of all kinds.
Saturday 14 November
Spatula Carving with Adam Hawker
Arts and culture
Dorchester · West Dorset
A greenwood carving workshop at Kingcombe Visitor Centre, led by greenwood worker Adam Hawker. Participants learn to use an axe and knife safely, select suitable wood, and carve and finish their own wooden spatula. For adults only.
18 to 21 November
Jayne Burton: Cyanotype Printing
Arts and culture
Mangerton, Bridport · West Dorset
- Accessible
- Rainy day
An exhibition and demonstration of textile designer Jayne Burton's work near Bridport. Held at Jenny Penney Local Makers Shop & Gallery, Mangerton Mill, it features cyanotype printing, Shibori dyeing and wood block printing inspired by coastal and woodland imagery.

See everything in West Dorset

Forde Abbey and Gardens

More in West Dorset

Places nearby

Lyme Regis Beaches

Sherborne Castle and Gardens

Lyme Regis Marine Aquarium

Coming up

Bridport Literary Festival

Spatula Carving with Adam Hawker

Jayne Burton: Cyanotype Printing