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Places in Somerset "D"
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A village noted for its nearby Roman Catholic abbey and school. A
benedictine
community of English Catholics founded at Douai in 1607 moved to
Shropshire
during the French Revolutionary Wars in 1795 and finally settled at
Downside
in 1814. The present abbey dating from the beginning of this century. is
chiefly
the work of Thomas Garner and Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, architect of
Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral. |
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| Woods ring the horizon; the Rivers Barle and Exe flow near by. The
market-place makes a friendly shopping centre. A track leads north-west
to Ashway, birthplace of Sir George Williams, founder of the YMCA. |
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Perhaps the most beautiful village on Exmoor, with a wide main Street
of old-world houses and the 17th-century Yarn Market. One end of the
street is
dominated by the tower on Conygar Hill, built in 1775, a landmark for
shipping; at the other end stands the castle. Built by he Normans and
enlarged down the centuries, Dunster Castle has been owned by only two
families in a thousand years the Mohuns and the Luttrells. Its gatehouse
was built in 1421 by Sir Hugh Luttrell, before the silting of the river
destroyed Dunster’s importance as a harbour. The church, once
both Benedictine priory and parish church, is the largest and finest on
Exmoor. It dates mainly from the 15th century. and has a magnificent
rood—screen. The nearby Luttrell Arms Hotel is said to have been a
residence of the medieval Abbots of Cleeve. |
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