I visited the village of Dunster in mid-September after a visit to Dunster Castle (read my post about Dunster Castle here). The castle is near the centre of Dunster, which is a small touristy market village. In addition to being the village where the popular Dunster Castle tour attraction is, the village has a Yarn Market. The Yarn Market dates from the 17th century, the time in which Dunster became a popular medieval market town. I visited the Yarn Market and a couple of shops in the town after visiting the castle.
The village can be accessed down the hill from the castle, and the Yarn Market is at the end. It was probably built in 1609 by the Lutterell family, who owned the castle. The town was popular for its wool and cloth trade. The Yarn Market is a typical covered market with an octagonal shape. There was also a butter cross, but this has been moved. Some damage from cannons during the Civil War can apparently still be seen on the wooden beams of the Yarn Market.
Dunster was a centre for cloth and wool in the 13th century, and the town's market dates from 1222. There is also a certain cloth that is known as "Dunsters", so it was a popular and well-known place.
The Yarn Market is maintained by English Heritage.
The town itself has a row of buildings on either side, which is wide and contains parking. There are some souvinir shops, museums, restaurants, cafes, gift shops, clothing shops, and a variety of other shops for the community and tourism trade.
At the end of the street, look back to see the views of the castle looming above.
I hope to return to Dunster again at some point when it is safe to do so and when I can freely walk inside the buildings and have a bite to eat in one of the cafes. Roll on to when things can be more normal again...
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