106 listed buildings, 3 of them Grade I

Dunster Castle and GatehouseGrade I listedPriory Church of St GeorgeGrade I listed4, 6 and 8, Church StreetGrade II* listedButter CrossGrade II* listedCastle Mill and Attached Gateway and GateGrade II* listed+5See all photos

Photos from Wikimedia Commons and Geograph, copied to our own server, each credited to its photographer with its licence; names open the building’s page or its official list entry.

c. 1700

Public domain, from Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server. Each credit opens the image’s page with its full description and history.

Historic England lists buildings in three grades: Grade I for buildings of exceptional interest (about 2.5% of all listed buildings), Grade II* for particularly important buildings of more than special interest (about 5.8%), and Grade II for buildings of special interest (about 91.7%). Listing protects the whole building, inside and out.

Every entry on the National Heritage List for England whose point lies inside the ONS 2022 built-up-area boundary. One list entry can cover a terrace or a group of buildings.

High Street8 listed

Castle Hill7 listed

West Street6 listed

Church Street5 listed · 1 II*

Of the 106 entries, 30 are named by a street address; the rest are named buildings such as churches, halls and bridges.

Historic England’s conservation areas layer, supplied by councils (incomplete in places, so a page fact, never graded). Hectares are the part of each area inside the built-up area.

The first 55 entries were listed in 1969, 3 of the 3 Grade I buildings among them. Only 0 have been added in the last 15 years.

7 scheduled monuments

Nationally important archaeological sites and monuments, protected by law; work on them needs consent from the Secretary of State, advised by Historic England.

1 registered park or garden

37% of homes are Victorian or older, against 16% across England and Wales. The busiest period since was 1945–54, which added 11% of today’s homes.

Valuation Office Agency, council tax stock of properties by build period, 31 March 2025, for the neighbourhoods (LSOAs) that make up the town, split by where their residents live. Homes with no recorded build period (8 here) are left out; 1939–44 is not a period in the data.

William Cadogan

Margaret Fownes-Luttrell

Philip Kelland

16001650170017501800185019001950

Philip Kelland1808–1879 · British mathematician (1808–1879)

Margaret Fownes-Luttrell1726–1766 · British painter (1726–1766)

WC

William Cadogan1601–1661 · Irish politician and cavalry major in Oliver Cromwell's army

Everyone born in Dunster → Birthplaces from Wikidata; portraits from Wikimedia Commons.

Old houses are part of Dunster’s character: 38% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town. In all there are 106 listed buildings, 3 of them Grade I. Dunster Castle sits at the heart of it all, with 3 of the town’s Grade I buildings within 400 m. High Street alone has 8 listed buildings.

A conservation area has protected part of it since 1973. Of the whole list, 71% are houses, terraces and villas. Philip Kelland (1808), Margaret Fownes-Luttrell (1726) and William Cadogan (1601) were all born here before 1900.