Dunster Castle the north; a third force, under the command of William de Mohun, landed by sea along the Somerset coast. William had been granted 68 manors in the region and by 1086 had established a castle at Dunster; this would form both the "caput", or principal castle, for his new lands, and help guard the coast against the threat of any fresh sea-borne attack, as well as controlling the coastal road running from Somerset to Gloucestershire. This first castle was a motte and bailey design, built upon the former Anglo-Saxon "burgh"; the top of the Tor was scarped to form the
Dunster Castle the Commonwealth years and the Restoration of Charles II to power in 1660. Francis' heir, another Francis, married a wealthy heiress worth £2,500 a year (£331,000 in 2009 values) and with this income set about modernising the castle during the 1680s, in particular building a grand staircase in the latest style. Francis was a colonel in the local militia and in 1688 backed William of Orange's attempt to oust James II; when William landed in Devon, Francis mustered a number of companies of infantry at Dunster on 19 November to support him, which formed the basis for the later Green