House and Garden 
THE GATE HOUSE—DUNSTER CASTLE 
cut out of the side of the hill in later years, winds 
round it under a high yew hedge and wall up to the 
principal entrance, while on the left hand a frail 
iron railing seems to the nervous visitor, with a shy¬ 
ing horse, a somewhat inadequate protection from 
the deep fall to the river below. The pedestrian 
generally chooses a shorter way, in old days the only 
approach and only intended for horsemen, not for 
vehicles; a very steep road which leads past the 
stables under the archway of a grey stone, ivy cov¬ 
ered gatehouse of the time of Richard II. It is 65 
feet broad, 23 deep and 45 high, with four corner 
turrets and connected with the main building by an 
ancient wall, pierced by the gateway of the lower 
Ward between two flanking towers, the old door of 
massive oak beams four and one half inches thick 
and held together with iron bands, still remaining. 
Following this wall and passing under the castle 
windows, one arrives at an irregularly shaped ter¬ 
race, about twenty yards wide, facing southeast, and 
protected from cold winds by the castle and hill of the 
Keep behind. This limited space has been made the 
most of and is laid out as a charming little garden. 
Hereon a sunny day one can fancy oneself in a South¬ 
ern climate, so sweet is the scent of verbena, myrtle, 
roses and mimosa,so brilliant and jewel-like the beds 
of geranium and begonia of every hue set in the emer¬ 
ald turf, so luxuriant the vege¬ 
tation on the slope below, 
where every sort of flowering 
shrub is planted and where 
some young olives are flour¬ 
ishing, while a lemon tree one 
hundred years old planted 
against the wall still bears. 
The charm of this sheltered 
corner is enhanced by the 
sense of elevation above the 
world, as one looks down over 
the battlemented terrace wall 
into the rooks’ nests on the 
treetops below and across the 
green flat plain, called the 
Lawn, to the wooded deer 
park beyond and to the pur¬ 
ple Quantocks and the silver 
sea and the blue mountains of 
Wales in the far distance, 
while the river, hidden from 
sight, reminds one by its music 
of the charming mill walk 
and the old mill and arched 
bridge far beneath us, and of 
the trout waiting for the sports¬ 
man to try his skill. Though 
from want of space the gar¬ 
den is small, there are endless 
walks cut among the trees on 
the side of the hill and seats where one can bask in 
the sun at any season of the year. A steep path 
with steps leads up to the summit of the hill, formerly 
the Keep, but since the early part of the eighteenth 
century the smooth well-kept bowling-green, with an 
octagonal summer-house, a border of flowers, and 
shady trees through which can be seen distant 
glimpses of Dunkery Beacon and the sea. 
The first mention of Dunster is in Domesday 
Book, where it is recorded as the Castle of William 
de Mohun. It was held by that family till 1376 
when, on the death of Sir john de Mohun without 
male heirs, his widow sold the property to the Lady 
Elizabeth Luttrell of East Quantoxhead for 500 
marks (^3333-6-8), in whose family it has remained 
ever since, the present owner being able to trace his 
lineal descent through the said Lady Elizabeth from 
Ralph Paganel of Quantoxhead in the time of William 
the Conqueror. There is no trace of Norman work 
in any part of the building; it seems to have been 
rebuilt on the same lines as the Norman fortress in 
the time of Edward I., and the inhabited part of the 
house, in the foundations of which are traces of an 
older building, was transformed by George Luttrell 
between 1590 and 1620. He built the hall with its 
fine plaster ceiling and the beautiful and unique 
staircase with its richly carved balusters. 
5 6 
