Off the Beaten Track in Somerset: Conygar Tower and The Arches, Dunster

Sunday, 5 March 2017

Conygar Tower and The Arches, Dunster

Conygar Tower is a folly located on Conygar Hill above the village of Dunster. It was commissioned by Henry Fownes Luttrell (1723-1780), the owner of Dunster Castle. It was designed by Richard Phelps, who was a local artist from Porlock. He was a pupil of Thomas Hudson, a Devon born portrait painter. Richard Phelps also designed the Lawns' and Lovers' Bridges at Dunster Castle and painted portraits of several members of the Luttrell family.

Conygar Tower was built in about 1775 at a cost of £75. It is a round tower 7.9 metres in diameter and about 18 metres high. It is built of red rubble sandstone, has four open entrances at the bottom and tapers slightly towards the top, which is crenellated. It has Gothic style window openings, but there is no evidence that it ever had a roof, staircase or floors. It was designed as an eye-catcher to be viewed from Dunster Castle.

Henry Luttrell also created Dunster deer park, planted trees on Conygar Hill and had a Sham Ruin, also designed by Richard Phelps, built 400 metres to the north west of Conygar Tower. It is known locally as 'The Arches'. There are two unroofed turrets either side of one of the arches, with the second arch at right angles to the first. Tracks were created to wind around Conygar Hill, so that the gentry could travel up to the folly via the Sham Ruin in horse drawn carriages.

The name Conygar comes from two medieval words: coney (rabbit) and garth (garden), indicating that the area was once a warren used for breeding rabbits for food.