Dunster is a village, civil parish and former manor within the English county of Somerset
Dunster is a village, civil parish and former manor within the English county of Somerset, today just within the northeastern boundary of the Exmoor National Park. It lies on the Bristol Channel coast miles (4 km) south-southeast of Minehead and 20 miles (32 km) northwest of Taunton. The United Kingdom Census of 2011 recorded a parish population of 817. 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 (d. post 1090) shortly after the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Castle is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. From that time it was the caput of the Feudal barony of Dunster. The Luttrell family who were lords of the manor from the 14th to 20th centuries remodelled the Castle on several occasions. The benedictine 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 (), 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 miles ( km) 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 Minehad to Bishops Lydeard. The village lies on the route of the Macmillan Way West, Somerset Way and Celtic Way Exmoor Option.
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Location: Dunster is a village, civil parish and former manor within the English county of Somerset
Photo credit: © Rik Hamilton / Alamy / Afripics
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Keywords: , boundary, bristol, channel, civil, coast, county, dunster, english, exmoor, lies, manor, miles, national, northeastern, northwest, parish, park., somerset, taunton., today, village
