Dunster & Cleeve Abbey

Thurs 30th Sept

We had good intentions today, planning a country walk and then a visit to Dunster Castle but somehow the walk got missed! We weren't sure of the directions in the walk book so parked by the castle and set off to explore leaving wellies and walks book in the car. We soon came to the sign pointing to Dunster Water Gardens & Mill. The mill was fascinating , built in 1690 and now renovated and producing flour for local shops. It's very elegant simple technology & although the cogs and drive shafts are now metal it's easy to see how the whole thing was originally constructed from wood. We thoroughly enjoyed it then wandered around the castle grounds and elegant 17 th century stables. The castle itself was closed which was a shame.

We headed into the village which was very quaint but too touristy.

Next stop was Cleeve Abbey where we joined English Heritage although I felt rather guilty that we weren't joining Cadw. Again the Abbey was really interesting. Although only the foundations of the Abbey church remained the domestic quarters were in suprising good state of repair. The wall paintings and the tile refectory floor were outstanding. The gate house was pretty good too


Finally we called in at Watchet where I particularly liked the museum with it's display of Flint tools from the old stone age up to bronze age. We had a walk around the harbour before returning to the caravan & the pheasants.


Elvie

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