We visited Forde Abbey, not far from Axminster in Somerset, on our trip to Devon and Dorset. It was a third slightly disappointing visit on this trip. The gardens have the "the highest powered/gravity-fed fountain in England” but it is only switched on for about half an hour. We and many other visitors duly gathered round the lake but when nothing had happened for about 20 minutes people began to drift away, some being Americans on a coach tour of gardens. We gave up about another 10 minutes after. When asking at the shop on the way out we discovered that there was a problem with the power supply on the site. It was frustrating that none of the staff or volunteers had thought to tell the visitors waiting to see the fountain.

The lake where the fountain wasn’t operating:-

Visited 2nd July 2026