Summary
The site of a walled garden found through documentary research and geophysical survey in use from the late 17th to early 18th century buildt on meadow land on the NE side of the River Avill
Identification Images (0)
Monument Types
- WALLED GARDEN (1735, Mid 17th C to Late 19th C - 1650 AD? to 1900 AD)
Description
A walled garden was discovered on the NE side of the River Avill on meadow land on the W side of Dunster Tor. Initially the a painting was shown to Trust archaeologist Isobel Richardson by a Mr Carter dated 1735 of Dunster Castle with the garden clearly visible. Subsequently an undated plan in the Somerset Record Office DD/L1/10/35B was found to depict the same garden but with a different plan. In May 2004 a geophysical and earthwork survey found the remains of the garden and from this it was suggested that the undated plan showed an earlier garden as the central pond was crossed by a causeway shown on the 1735 plan. The two rectangular ponds were detected on the earthwork and geophysical survey as lying in the centre of each half of the rectilinear walled garden as shown on the 1735 painting and the remains of the 1735 pavilion in the centre of the SW wall could also be seen on the resistivity plot. Both magenetometry and resistivity were used in the survey and the records complement each other.
Dorothy Luttrell may have commissioned the design of the garden shown on the 1735 painting as she is known to have created the bowling green on the summit of the tor around this time. Paintings shown traces of the garden in the 1750s and it was probably removed during the landscaping of the park in the 1760s by Henry Fownes Luttrell.
In 2022 a Magnetometer survey was undertaken to support a flood alleviation project (SNA69327/ENA10355. Two areas (A and B) along the river Avril were surveyed covering c. 6.4ha. The geophysical survey was successful in detecting and locating anomalies of possible archaeological origin. Fifty-three anomaly groups were detected, 41 of which are considered to represent potential buried archaeological deposits. The remainder are considered to represent modern inspection covers and service pipes.
Area A has been subject of much modern activity which includes hosting the Dunster fair and modern drainage/land improvement, this makes the general interpretation difficult. Some anomalies marked as possible archaeology may in fact be modern scarring or trenches.
References
- SNA65028 - Unpublished document: Jim Gunter. 2011. Dunster Castle Storm Water Drain Watching Brief.
- SNA67313 - Unpublished document: Dunster Museum Archaeological Group. 2017. Geophysical Survey Report on NT Land in Old Park Dunster.
- SNA69327 - Unpublished document: Cotswold Archaeology. 2022. Magnetometer survey to support a flood alleviation project. Substrata Ltd.
- SZN48231 - Unpublished document: Martin Papworth. 2005. Geophysical Survey of an early 18th century walled formal garden within Dunster Park.
- SZN48234 - Unpublished document: Kate Felus and John Phibbs. Survey of the Historic Landscape, Dunster Castle, Somerset.
Other Statuses and References
Associated Events
- ENA3165 - Field Survey, Earthwork and Geophysical Survey of walled garden Dunster Park May 2004
- ENA3168 - Field Survey, Historic Landscape Survey Dunster June 2004
- ENA6482 - Archaeological Intervention, Watching brief storm water drain across Dunster Park Dec.2010
- ENA8820 - Remote Sensing, Gradiometer Surveys of three areas of Dunster Park May 2017
- ENA10355 - Remote Sensing, Magnetometer survey to support a flood alleviation project along River Avril (Ref: 2208DUN-R-1)
Associated Finds
None Recorded
Related Records
None Recorded