Dunster Castle evidence of a fortification at Dunster was an Anglo-Saxon "burgh". This was built on the summit of the hill and was possibly intended to protect the region against sea-borne raiders; by the mid-11th century it was controlled by a local nobleman called Aelfric. In 1066 the Normans invaded south-east England, defeating the English forces at the battle of Hastings: in the aftermath of the victory, William the Conqueror entrusted the conquest of the south-west of England to his half-brother Robert of Mortain. Expecting stiff resistance, Robert marched west into Somerset, supported by forces under Walter of Douai, who entered from
Dunster Castle Howards regiment. During this period the castle still kept an armoury of 43 muskets. Francis died heavily in debt in 1690, and his widow Mary moved the contents of the castle to London, where they were destroyed in a fire in 1696. At the start of the 18th century the Luttrells and Dunster Castle faced many financial challenges. Francis's son Alexander, inherited the castle when he came of age in 1704, but it was still mostly empty and carried large debts with it. Alexander died young in 1711 and his widow, Dorothy, spent almost twenty years paying off the debts.