Feudal barony of Dunster National Trust and contributes his personal knowledge in helping to record the modern history of the Castle. Feudal barony of Dunster The feudal barony of Dunster was an English feudal barony with its "caput" at Dunster Castle in Somerset. During the reign of King Henry I (1100–1135) the barony (or "honour") comprised forty knight's fees and was later enlarged. In about 1150 the manors retained in demesne were Dunster, Minehead, Cutcombe, Kilton and Carhampton in Somerset, and Ham in Dorset. The historian the Duchess of Cleveland wrote as follows in her 1889 work "Battle Abbey Roll" concerning the origins of
Dunster Castle At the end of the 14th century the de Mohuns sold the castle to the Luttrell family, who continued to occupy the property until the late 20th century. The castle was expanded several times by the Luttrell family during the 17th and 18th centuries; they built a large manor house within the Lower Ward of the castle in 1617, and this was extensively modernised, first during the 1680s and then during the 1760s. The medieval castle walls were mostly destroyed following the siege of Dunster Castle at the end of the English Civil War, when Parliament ordered the defences to