Jeremy Bentham (1748 ~ 1832)

Our CD store takes its name from the luxurious country house located in Somerset, England. Originally a Cistercian monastery, Forde Abbey was founded in 1138 by monks who were offered the site by the side of the River Axe. By the turn of the 15th century, Abbot Thomas Chard began a series of reforms that culminated when Henry VIII ordered the dissolution of the larger monasteries. The transformation of the abbey into the house we see today, however, was effected by Sir Edmund Prideaux, who incorporated state apartments above the monastic cloisters and remodeled the main rooms.

More importantly, in 1815 the immortal Jeremy Bentham rented the house, after being compensated by the British government for his work on prison reform. Bentham used to take long walks in the magnificent gardens with James Mill and his son, the young John Stuart. This event signaled the continuation of the tradition that began two millennia earlier, when Epicurus founded his famous Garden. Both places, indeed, served as meeting points for fellow hedonists to enjoy the pleasures of friendship and contemplation.

Forde Abbey CD store is both a celebration of that tradition and a continuation of it into the 21st century and beyond.