Dunster Castle motte, or Upper Ward, and an area below shaped to form the bailey, or Lower Ward. Somerset became more stable in the aftermath of the post-invasion period and the unsuccessful 1068 rebellion against Norman rule. It was common in the period for the Normans to build religious houses to accompany major castles, and accordingly William de Mohun endowed a Benedictine priory at Dunster in 1090, along with its parent abbey at Bath. The River Avill was important for trade; the region around Dunster was rich with fisheries and vineyards, and Dunster Castle prospered. Stone fortifications were built on the site
Dunster county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election, and is part of the South West England constituency of the European Parliament; the constituency elects seven MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation. Dunster Castle was positioned on a steep, high hill. Geologically, the hill is an outcrop of Hangman Grits, a type of red sandstone. During the early medieval period the sea reached the base of the hill, close to the mouth of the River