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Nunney castle

A tiny French style castle in the village of Frome in Somerset.

It looks very much more like a Disney fairy tale castle than do the usual British castles. It is crenellated and surrounded by a deep moat,and looks very comfortable to live in. It was built in 1373 for Sir John Delamare who had seen and been impressed by French castles in his service during the Hundred Years War.

Its homely appearance illustrates that it was built at a time of local peace. However, the castle was attacked by Cromwell's forces in the Civil War (1640s) cannon shot damaged the north wall badly forcing a surrender. In 1910, the wall collapsed finally.

The surroundings are really pretty with lots of stone buildings of the same era, although the person in the house adjoining the castle displays some pretty un welcoming notices to deter you from mistaking his driveway for part of the castle. It is a quiet sleepy place (at least it was on a beautiful winter weekend). People were fishing in the moat. There is a water bird sanctuary a little way away. This is a very nice castle to visit if you like being more or less by yourself to look around, rather than fight your way through crowds of other visitors.

Nunney Castle - Main Approach
Nunney Castle - Side Wall
Nunney Castle - Moat