Once the administrative seat for the Dunster Estate, now Dunster Castle is a vital part of Dunster's history, a key visitor destination for the National Park and an important part of the local economy..
There has been a fortification at Dunster in one form or other since Saxon times. At this time the sea would have reached the foot of the hill upon which the castle sits and offered a natural defence. The original walls and ramparts of the castle were built to protect the non sea facing aspects of the hill. Since that time the sea has receded leaving the lush fertile land that is farmed by Dunster Estate tenants to this day.
Formal Records begin with the Domesday book (1086) which says that there was a castle here before 1066. Around this period the Dunster Estate, along with 68 other English estates, was granted to William de Mohun by William the Conqueror. In 1376 the castle passed to the Luttrell family with whom it remained for 600 years.
Dunster Castle has been owned and managed by the National Trust since 1976 and It attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors to the area each year.