Dunster

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Dunster
Somerset
Dunster.jpg
Dunster Yarn Market
Location
Grid reference: SS990436
Location: 51°10’57"N, 3°26’45"W
Data
Population: 817  (2011)
Post town: Minehead
Postcode: TA24
Dialling code: 01643
Local Government
Council: Somerset West
and Taunton
Parliamentary
constituency: 		Bridgwater & W. Somerset
Website: Dunster Village

Dunster is a village on the coast of the Bristol Channel in Somerset, just within the north-eastern boundary of the Exmoor National Park. It is to be found two and a half miles south-southeast of Minehead and twenty miles northwest of Taunton.

This is a small place, of just 817 inhabitants at the 2011 census, but a fine village with many attractions and sites of interest.

Iron Age hillforts testify to occupation of the area for thousands of years. The village grew up around Dunster Castle which was built on the Tor by the Norman warrior William I de Moyon shortly after the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Castle is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. From that time it was the head of the Feudal barony of Dunster. The Castle was remodelled on several occasions by the Luttrell family who were Lord of the Manor|lords of the manor from the 14th to 20th centuries.

A Benedictine monastery, Dunster Priory, was established in about 1100. The Priory Church of St George, dovecote and tithe barn are all relics from the Priory.

The village became a centre for wool and cloth production and trade, of which the Yarn Market, built by George Luttrell (d.1629), is a relic. There existed formerly a harbour, known as Dunster Haven, at the mouth of the River Avill, yet today the coast having receded is now about half a mile from the village and no sign of the harbour can be seen on the low lying marshes between the village and the coast. Dunster has a range of heritage sites and cultural attractions which combine with the castle to make it a popular tourist destination with many visitors arriving on the West Somerset Railway, a heritage railway running from Minehead to Bishops Lydeard.

The village lies on the route of the Macmillan Way West, the Somerset Way and the Celtic Way Exmoor Option.

Name

The name is first recorded as Torre ('tor' or 'rocky hill'), as it appears in the Domesday Book.[1] The origin of the prefix is uncertain, although it may refer to a the personal name of a landowner, a suggestion being one Dunn, a Saxon nobleman who held land in nearby Elworthy and Willett before the Norman Conquest,[2] so Dunn's craggy hill.[3]

The historian David Nash Ford proposed Dunster as a possible location of the town of Cair Draitou listed in the Historia Brittonum of Nennius; Cair Draitou is named as one of the 28 cities of Britain.[4]

History

Within two miles of the village itself are several Iron Age hillforts, which include Bat's Castle and Black Ball Camp on Gallox Hill,[5][6] Long Wood Enclosure[7][8][9] and a similar earthwork on Grabbist Hill.[10]

Castle

Main article: Dunster Castle

Dunster Castle

In the Domesday Book of 1086, Dunster is listed as a manor and Dunster Castle as belonging to William I de Moyon (alias de Moion, also de Mohun).[11] After the Norman Conquest, de Moyon constructed a timber castle on the site as part of the pacification of Somerset.[12] A stone shell keep was built on the motte by the start of the 12th century, and the castle survived a siege during the early years of the Anarchy. At the end of the 14th century the de Mohuns sold the castle to the Luttrell family, who continued to occupy the property until the late 20th century.[13]

During the Civil War, Dunster was initially held as a garrison for the Royalists.[14] It fell to the Parliamentarians in 1645 and orders were sent out for the castle to be demolished.[14] However, these were not carried out, and the castle remained the garrison for Parliamentarian troops until 1650.[15] Dunster regularly plays host to Taunton Garrison who re-enact plays, battles, and life in the civil war.[16]

Major alterations to the castle were undertaken by Henry Fownes Luttrell who had acquired it through marriage to Margaret Fownes-Luttrell in 1747. Following the death of Alexander Luttrell in 1944, the family was unable to afford the death duties on his estate. The castle and surrounding lands were sold off to a property firm, the family continuing to live in the castle as tenants. The Luttrells bought back the castle in 1954, but in 1976 Colonel Walter Luttrell gave Dunster Castle and most of its contents to the National Trust, which operates it as a tourist attraction. It is a Grade I listed building and a scheduled monument.

Priory

Dunster Priory was established as a Benedictine monastery around 1100. The first church in Dunster was built by William de Mohun who gave the church and the tithes of several manors and two fisheries, to the Benedictine Abbey at Bath. The priory, which was situated just north of the church, became a cell of the abbey.[17] The church was shared for worship by the monks and the parishioners, however this led to several conflicts between them. One outcome was the carved rood screen which divided the church in two with the parish using the west chancel and the monks the east.[18] The priory church is now in parochial use as the Priory Church of St George which still contains 12th and 13th century work, although most of the current building is from the 15th century. It has been designated as a Grade I listed building.[19] In 1332 it became more separated from the Abbey at Bath and became a priory in its own right.[20] In the "Valor Ecclesiasticus" of 1535 the net annual income of the Dunster Tithe Barn is recorded as being £37.4.8d, with £6.13s7d passed on to the priory in Bath.[21]

In 1346 Cleeve Abbey built a nunnery in Dunster, but it was never inhabited by nuns and was used as a guest house.[22]

The priory was dissolved as part of the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539.

Wool

Gallox Bridge

Dunster had become a centre for woollen and clothing production by the 13th century, with the market dating back to at least 1222, and a particular kind of kersey or broadcloth became known as 'Dunsters'.[23][24] The prosperity of Dunster was based on the wool trade, with profits helping to pay for the construction of the tower of the Priory Church of St George and provide other amenities. The 15th century Gallox Bridge was one of the main routes over the River Avill on the southern outskirts.[25] The market was held in "The Shambles" however these shops were demolished in 1825 and now only the Yarn Market remains.

Dunster Beach, which includes the mouth of the River Avill, is half a mile from the village. It used to have a significant harbour, known as Dunster Haven, which was used for the export of wool from Saxon times until its last usei in the 17th century, but the harbour has now disappeared, as new land was laid down among the dykes, meadows and marshes near the shore.[26]

Twentieth century

During the Second World War, considerable defences were built along the coast as a part of anti-invasion preparations, though the north coast of Somerset was an unlikely invasion site. Some of the structures remain to this day: most notable are the pillboxes on Dunster Beach.[27]

The beach site has a number of privately owned beach huts (or chalets as some owners call them) along with a small shop, a tennis court and a putting green. The chalets, measuring 18 feet by 14 feet}, can be let out for holidays; some owners live in them all the year round.[28]

Geography

Dunster Butter Cross

Dunster Castle was built on a steep, 200-foot high hill. Geologically, the hill is an outcrop of Hangman Grits, a type of red sandstone.[29] During the early Middle Ages the sea reached the base of the hill, close to the mouth of the River Avill, offering a natural defence and making the village an inland port.[30][31][32]

Nearby is the Dunster Park and Heathlands Site of Special Scientific Interest noted for nationally important lowland dry heath, dry lowland acid grassland, wood-pasture with veteran trees and ancient semi-natural oak woodland habitats. The fauna of the lowland heath includes the Heath fritillary (Mellicta athalia), a nationally rare butterfly. The assemblage of beetles associated with the veteran trees is of national significance because of the variety and abundance of species.[33]

Culture

Priory Church of St George, Dunster

Dunster is one of the places which claims to be the birthplace and inspiration of the hymn "All Things Bright and Beautiful" as Cecil Alexander stayed here with Mary Martin, the daughter of one of the owners of Martins Bank. The nearby hill, Grabbist, was originally heather-covered before its reforestation and might rightly have been described as the "Purple-headed mountain" of the hymn.[34] Many other places make the claim too, from Sion Mills in Tyrone (where Alexander lived for a time) to the River Usk.

On the evening of 1 May each year the Minehead Hobby Horse visits Dunster and is received at the Castle. A local newspaper printed in May 1863 says "The origin professes to be in commemoration of the wreck of a vessel at Minehead in remote times, or the advent of a sort of phantom ship which entered the harbour without Captain or crew. Once the custom was encouraged, but now is much neglected, and perhaps soon will fall into desuetude." Another conjecture about its origin is that the hobby horse was the ancient King of the May. The Hobby Horse tradition begins with the waking of the inhabitants of Minehead by the beating of a loud drum. The hobby horse dances its way about the town and on to Dunster Castle.[35][36]

Annually on the third Friday in August the village hosts the well known Dunster Show where local businesses and producers come together to showcase the very best that Exmoor and West Somerset has to offer. A major part of the show is the showing of livestock especially horses, cattle and sheep.The 2015 show was the 169th show.[37]

A more recent tradition (started in 1987) is Dunster by Candlelight which takes place every year on the first Friday and Saturday in December when this remarkably preserved mediæval village turns its back on the present and lights its streets with candles. To mark the beginning of the festival on Friday at 5 pm, there is the Lantern Lighting Procession that starts on the Steep and continues through the village until all the lanterns in the streets have been lit. The procession of children and their families is accompanied by colourful stilt walkers in costumes who put up the lanterns.[38]

The old Christmas tradition of burning the Ashen faggot takes place at the Luttrell Arms hotel every Christmas Eve.[39] The pub was formerly a guest house for the Abbots of Cleeve: its oldest section dates from 1443.[40]

The Priory Church of St George is predominantly 15th century with evidence of 12th- and 13th century work. It has been designated as a Grade I listed building.[41] The church was started by William de Moyon during the 11th century. The tower was built by Jon Marys of Stogursey who received a contract from the parish in 1442. He was paid 13s 4d (approx. 67p) for each foot in height and £1 for the pinnacles. The work was completed in three years. Aisles were added in 1504.

The church was shared for worship between the monks of Dunster Priory and the parishioners, however this led to several conflicts between them. One outcome was the carved rood screen which divided the church in two with the parish using the west chancel and the monks the east.[18] It was restored in 1875–77 by George Edmund Street. The church has a cruciform plan with a central four-stage tower, built in 1443 with diagonal buttresses, a stair turret and single bell-chamber windows.[19]

About the village

Conygar Tower

Dunster, in Exmoor National Park, has many listed buildings including 200 Grade II, two Grade I and two Grade II*.

Amongst the sights in and around Dunster are:

  • The Yarn Market: a 17th-century market cross, probably built in 1609 by the Luttrell family who were the local lords of the manor]] to maintain the importance of the village as a market, particularly for wool and cloth. The Yarn Market is an octagonal building constructed around a central pier.[42] The building contains a hole in one of the roof beams, a result of cannon fire in the Civil War. A bell at the top was rung to indicate the start of trading.
  • The Butter Cross, built in the late 14th or early 15th century and which once stood in the High Street,[43] It was moved to its current location on the edge of the village possibly in 1825. The cross has an octagonal base and polygonal shaft, however the head of the cross has been lost.[44][45] It stands on a small area of raised ground on a plinth. The surviving shaft is 4 feet high and changes from square to octagonal as it rises. It is in the care of English Heritage and managed by the National Trust.[46]
  • Gallox Bridge a mediæval packhourse bridge over the River Avill, in the care of English Heritage.
  • The Nunnery
  • Dunster Watermill (also known as Castle Mill); a restored 18th century watermill on the River Avill close to Gallox Bridge, in the grounds of Dunster Castle. It is a Grade II* listed building.[47] The mill stands on a site where a mill was first recorded in the Domesday Book, but the present building was built around 1780. It closed in 1962 but was restored in 1979 and is still used to grind flour. The equipment is powered by two overshot wheels. It is owned by the National Trust but operated as a tourist attraction by a private company.[48]
  • Dunster Dovecote
  • Priory Barn, which belonged to Dunster Priory. Dunster Working Watermill
Dunster Dovecote

The Dovecote was probably built in the late 16th century. It has been designated as a Grade II* listed building and Scheduled Ancient Monument.[49] It is approximately 19 feet high and 19 feet in diameter with walls around four feet thick. In the 18th century the floor level and door were raised among several major alterations. The lower tiers of nest holes were blocked to protect against brown rats which reached Somerset by 1760. A revolving ladder, known as a "potence", was installed to allow the pigeon keeper to search the nest holes more easily. In the 19th century two feeding platforms were added to the axis of the revolving ladder.[50] When the ladder was installed in the 16th century the base rests on a pin driven into a beam on the floor. The head of the pin sits in a metal cup in the base of the wooden pillar, which means the mechanism has never had to be oiled.[51] When the Dunster Castle estate was sold the dovecote was bought by the Parochial church council and opened to the public. Extensive repairs were undertaken in 1989.[52]

Tithe Barn

The Tithe Barn was originally part of a Benedictine Dunster Priory, has been much altered since the 14th century and only a limited amount of the original features survive. In the "Valor Ecclesiasticus" of 1535 the net annual income of the Dunster Tithe Barn is recorded as being £37.4s.8d (£37.23p), with £6.13s.7d being passed on to the priory in Bath.[21]

Conygar Tower is a folly used as a seamark by ships on the Bristol Channel. It stands at the top of Conygar Hill and overlooks the village. It is a circular, 3 storey tower built of red sandstone, situated on a hill overlooking the village. It was commissioned by Henry Luttrell and designed by Richard Phelps and stands about 59 feet high so that it can be seen from Dunster Castle on the opposite hillside. There is no evidence that it ever had floors or a roof.[53][54] It has no strategic or military significance. The name Conygar comes from two mediæval words Coney meaning rabbit and Garth meaning garden, indicating that it was once a warren where rabbits were bred for food.

Dunster Doll Museum houses a collection of more than 800 dolls from around the world, based on the collection of the late Mollie Hardwick, who died in 1970 and donated her collection to the village memorial hall committee.[55] Established in 1971, the collection includes a display of British and foreign dolls in various costumes.[56] Thirty-two of the dolls were stolen during a burglary in 1992 and have never been recovered.[57]

Heritage railway

Main article: West Somerset Railway

An engine on the West Somerset Railway arrives at Dunster

Dunster railway station is on the West Somerset Railway, though the station is over a mile from the village. The station was opened on 16 July 1874 by the Minehead Railway, which later went through amalgamations and change until nationalisation and closure in 1971.

A small signal box stood at the Watchet end of the platform, but was demolished in 1926 when this was extended. In 1934 a 'new' signal box at the opposite end of the station, brought second-hand from Maerdy, was put into use when the line from Dunster to Minehead was doubled in 1934.

The line was reopened as a heritage railway operated by the West Somerset Railway on 28 March 1976. The signal box was moved to Minehead in 1977 but the goods yard is now home to the railway’s civil engineering team.[58]

The station is a Grade II listed building.[59]

Outside links

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 ("Wikimedia Commons" has material
about Dunster)

References

  1. ↑ Ekwall 1960, p. 154.
  2. ↑ Robinson 1992, p. 50.
  3. ↑ Poulton-Smith 2010, p. 56.
  4. ↑ Ford, David Nash. "The 28 Cities of Britain" at Britannia. 2000.
  5. ↑ Adkins 1992, pp. 23-26.
  6. ↑ "Black Ball Camp". Arts and Humanities Data Service (AHDS). http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/search/fr.cfm?rcn=NMR_NATINV-36857. Retrieved 28 September 2007. 
  7. ↑ National Heritage List 1008255: Later prehistoric defended enclosure, Long Wood
  8. ↑ Long Wood Enclosure – Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record
  9. ↑ National Monuments Record: No. 36926 – Longwood
  10. ↑ National Monuments Record: No. 36851
  11. ↑ Domesday Book: A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 2003. ISBN 0-14-143994-7 p.263
  12. ↑ Prior, 2006
  13. ↑ Garnett, 2003
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 "The Civil War in Somerset". Somerset County Council. http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/ASH/Civilwar.htm. Retrieved 29 June 2015. 
  15. ↑ Bryant, 1977 p18
  16. ↑ "Introduction to the Taunton Garrison". Taunton Garrison. Archived from the original on 9 December 2013. http://wayback.archive.org/web/20131209140026/http://tauntongarrison.org/page2.htm. Retrieved 19 March 2015. 
  17. ↑ "Benedictine Priory, Dunster". Somerset Historic Environment Record. Somerset County Council. http://webapp1.somerset.gov.uk/her/details.asp?prn=34816. Retrieved 7 January 2010. 
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 History of Dunster Church & Priory - Dunster Tithe Barn
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 National Heritage List 1057646: Priory Church of St George, Dunster
  20. ↑ Houses of Benedictine monks: The priory of Dunster': A History of the County of Somerset - Volume : {{{2}}} (Victoria County History)
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 "Dunster Tithe Barn". Everything Exmoor. http://www.everythingexmoor.org.uk/encyclopedia_detail.php?ENCid=344. Retrieved 29 June 2015. 
  22. ↑ Lambert, Tim. "A History of Dunster". Local History .org. http://www.localhistories.org/dunster.html. Retrieved 7 January 2010. 
  23. ↑ "Yarn Market Dunster". Everything Exmoor. http://www.everythingexmoor.org.uk/encyclopedia_detail.php?ENCid=1133. Retrieved 21 January 2015. 
  24. ↑ Gathercole, Clare. "Dunster" (PDF). The Somerset Urban Archaeological Survey. Somerset County Council. http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/hes/downloads/Somerset_EUS_Dunster.pdf. Retrieved 6 June 2014. 
  25. ↑ National Monuments Record: No. 36854 – Gallox Bridge
  26. ↑ Farr 1954, pp. 138-140.
  27. ↑ "Dunster Beach". Archaeology Data Service. http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/catalogue//adsdata/arch-455-1/dissemination/pdf/Text_Reports/DA63_TEXT_-_DUNSTER_BEACH.pdf. Retrieved 29 June 2015. 
  28. ↑ Concannon 1995, pp. 83-87.
  29. ↑ Mackenzie 1897.
  30. ↑ Dunning 1995, pp. 37-39.
  31. ↑ Creighton & Higham 2003, pp. 41-42.
  32. ↑ Dunning, pp.37–39; Creighton, pp.41–42.
  33. ↑ Dunster Park and Heathlands - English Nature
  34. ↑ "Avill Valley". Everything Exmoor. http://www.everythingexmoor.org.uk/encyclopedia_detail.php?ENCid=93. Retrieved 29 June 2015. 
  35. ↑ "History". Minehead Hobby Horse. http://www.cajunmusic.co.uk/hh/uk/minehead/sh_frames.htm. Retrieved 19 March 2015. 
  36. ↑ "The Minehead Hobby Horse". Minehead Online. http://www.minehead-online.co.uk/hobbyhorse.htm. Retrieved 19 March 2015. 
  37. ↑ "The Dunster Show". Dunster Show. http://www.thedunstershow.co.uk/. Retrieved 19 March 2015. 
  38. ↑ "Dunster by Candlight". Dunster by Candlight. http://www.dunsterbycandlelight.co.uk/. Retrieved 19 March 2015. 
  39. ↑ "Dunster & Axmouth Ashen Faggot". Calender Customs. http://calendarcustoms.com/articles/ashen-faggot/. Retrieved 19 March 2015. 
  40. ↑ National Heritage List 1057611: The Luttrell Arms Hotel
  41. ↑ National Heritage List 1057646: Priory Church of St George
  42. ↑ National Heritage List 1173428: Yarn Market
  43. ↑ Henry Maxwell Lyte (1880). "Dunster and its Lords". The Archaeological Journal 37: 285. http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-1132-1/dissemination/pdf/037/037_057-093_155-179_271-293_395-405.pdf. 
  44. ↑ Butter Cross: History and research
  45. ↑ National Heritage List 1345602: Butter Cross
  46. ↑ Butter Cross
  47. ↑ National Heritage List 1173447: Castle Mill and attached gateway and gates
  48. ↑ "Dunster Working Watermill". National Trust. http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/dunster-working-watermill/visitor-information/. Retrieved 9 February 2014. 
  49. ↑ National Heritage List 1057581: Dovecote
  50. ↑ "Dovecote, Dunster". Somerset Historic Environment Record. Somerset County Council. http://webapp1.somerset.gov.uk/her/details.asp?prn=34618. Retrieved 4 June 2009. 
  51. ↑ Byford 1987, p. 93.
  52. ↑ "Dovecote 60m north of St George's Church". Somerset County Council. http://webapp1.somerset.gov.uk/her/details.asp?prn=34618. Retrieved 29 June 2015. 
  53. ↑ Holt, Jonathan (2007). Somerset Follies. Bath: Akeman Press. pp. 78–79. ISBN 978-0-9546138-7-7. 
  54. ↑ National Heritage List 1057596: Conygar Tower
  55. ↑ "Dunster Dolls Museum". Everything Exmoor. http://www.everythingexmoor.org.uk/encyclopedia_detail.php?ENCid=339. Retrieved 29 June 2015. 
  56. ↑ "Dunster Museum & Doll Collection". Dunster Museum & Doll Collection. http://www.dunstermuseum.co.uk/. Retrieved 29 June 2015. 
  57. ↑ "Dunster Dolls Museum". Dunster and Timberscombe. http://www.dunster.org.uk/out_and_about/things_to_see_and_do/dunster_dolls_museum.php. Retrieved 12 July 2009. 
  58. ↑ Oakley, Mike (2006). Somerset Railway Stations. Bristol: Redcliffe Press. ISBN 1-904537-54-5. 
  59. ↑ National Heritage List 1057599: Dunster railway station

Books

  • Adkins, Lesley and Roy (1992). A field guide to Somerset Archeology. Dovecote Press. ISBN 978-0946159949. 
  • Bryant, R.G. (1977). Dunster Village Church and Castle (3 ed.). R.G. Bryant. 
  • Burnett, E. (1969). Dunster, Somerset. Dunster Traders Association. 
  • Byford, Enid (1987). Somerset Curiosities. The Dovecote Press. ISBN 978-0946159482. 
  • Concannon, Bernard (1995). The History of Dunster Beach. Monkspath Books. ISBN 0-9526884-0-9. 
  • Creighton, Oliver; Higham, Robert (2003). Mediæval Castles. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 9780747805465. 
  • Dunning, Robert (1995). Somerset Castles. Somerset: Somerset Books. ISBN 978-0861832781. 
  • Dunning, Robert (2007). Somerset Churches and Chapels: Building Repair and Restoration. Halsgrove. ISBN 978-1841145921. 
  • Dunning, Robert (2001). Somerset Monasteries. Tempus. ISBN 978-0-7524-1941-1. 
  • Ekwall, Eilert (1960). The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place Names. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-869103-7. 
  • Farr, Grahame (1954). Somerset Harbours. London: Christopher Johnson. 
  • Foot, William (2006). Beaches, fields, streets, and hills ... the anti-invasion landscapes of England, 1940. Council for British Archaeology. ISBN 1-902771-53-2. 
  • Garnett, Oliver (2003). Dunster Castle. National Trust. ISBN 978-1843590491. 
  • Mackenzie, James D. (1897). The Castles of England, Their Story and Structure. W. Heinemann. OCLC 504892038. 
  • Poulton-Smith, Anthony (2010). Somerset Place Names. Amberley. ISBN 9781848687820. 
  • Poyntz Wright, Peter (1981). The Parish Church Towers of Somerset, Their construction, craftsmanship and chronology 1350 - 1550. Avebury Publishing Company. ISBN 0-86127-502-0. 
  • Prior, Stuart (2006). The Norman Art of War: A Few Well-Positioned Castles. Tempus Publishing. ISBN 9780752436517. 
  • Robinson, Stephen (1992). Somerset Place Names. Dovecote Press. ISBN 978-1874336037. 
  • Woodger, Bev (2014). A History of Dunster. Matador. ISBN 9781783064441. 
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