Yarn Market, Dunster fire in the Civil War. Nearby was an older cross known as the Butter Cross which has subsequently been moved to the outskirts of the village. The Yarn Market is an octagonal building constructed around a central pier. The tiled roof provides shelter from the rain. Dunster Castle stands on a site which has been fortified since the late Anglo-Saxon period, signifying the importance of the area. After the Norman conquest of England in the 11th century, William de Mohun constructed a timber castle on the site as part of the pacification of Somerset. A stone shell keep was built
Dunster the priory in Bath. In 1346 Cleeve Abbey built a nunnery in Dunster, but it was never inhabited by nuns and was used as a guest house. The priory was dissolved as part of the dissolution of the monasteries in 1539. Dunster was part of the hundred of Carhampton, but St George's was the seat of the local deanery, overseeing the area's parish churches. 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'. The