Dunster Castle Dunster Castle Dunster Castle is a former motte and bailey castle, now a country house, in the village of Dunster, Somerset, England. The castle lies on the top of a steep hill called the Tor, and has been fortified since the late Anglo-Saxon period. 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 on the motte by the start of the 12th century, and the castle survived a siege during the early years of the Anarchy.
Feudal barony of Dunster War he made Dunster Castle available for use as a convalescent home by the Royal Navy. On the death of his father in 1944 the payment of a large sum in Death Duties left the estate indebted and uneconomic to operate, and Geoffrey, whilst reserving a tenancy for himself at the Castle, sold the estates to a property development company which sold them on to the Commissioners of Crown Lands. He bought back the Castle and grounds in 1954 and opened them to the paying public. He died in 1957 and his widow remained at the Castle until her death