DUNSTER

DUNSTER17

there, though the historian quaintly adds that the plague was at the same time “ hot round Dunster.” Behind what is still called the Prince’s bedchamber is a secret chamber or hiding-place of small dimensions. Later, the Castle was besieged by Colonel Blake, the Parliamentarian Governor of Taunton, who, after a close siege of 160 days, forced Colonel Francis Wyndham to surrender, but with the honours of war. In 1648 the Castle was the prison of William Prynne, who had been sent there by Oliver Cromwell. During his imprisonment he employed his time in examining and scheduling the many documents connected with the history of the Castle. Perhaps the most interesting of these is a small slip of parchment bearing the original receipt of the Lady Joan de Mohun to the Lady Elizabeth Luttrell for 500 marks, the purchase money paid by the latter lady in 1376 for the right of succession to the Great Barony of Dunster.The Tor on which the Castle stands was the site of the Norman Keep, but all traces have disappeared, the Keep having been destroyed, by order of Parliament, in 1650. The Tor is covered with fine trees and every variety of flowering shrub, among which, growing in the open air on a wall in front of the Castle, is a lemon tree of remarkable luxuriance and beauty, bearing fine fruit. On it may be noticed the unusual sight of bud, blossom and fruit at the same time.

The view from the neighbourhood of the Castle is varied and imposing, including the extensive Deer Park, several miles in circumference, and, nearer, the verdant lawns, 300 acres in extent.On the heights of the Deer Park, on Gallox Hill, are two ancient camps. The prominences silhouetted against the sky mark the site of a roughly rectangular earthwork, known as Bat’s Castle, and often called the “ Roman camp.” It is enclosed by a double vallum of stones and a fosse, except on the southern side, where the steep declivity renders such protection unnecessary. Not far away, to the north-west, on the same hill, is a well-marked circular camp.The High Street.Dunster High Street, once called “ Chepyng-strete, ” is a broad and dignified thoroughfare, flanked by many charming Tudor houses with carved oak doorways and heavy window-frames, and quaint little old-fashioned shops. High above the Castle mounts guard over the lower end, and at the otherMinehead (c)