MEM25273 - Post-medieval walled garden east of St George's Church (Monument)

Two plots of land are shown to the east and northeast of St George's Church on the Dunster Tithe Map. They are labelled 58 and 59, and are described in the Apportionment as "Wall Garden". [1] A map of 1790 shows the northern plot, but does not indicate its function. The southern area is subdivided and includes a house (MEM23774). The southern plot also does not include a small section of land around the eastern end of the church.[2] The 25 inch 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map depicts the two areas of land and shows them laid out with paths and trees. The area immediately adjacent to the church is labelled "graveyard". There is a path through from the graveyard into the southern land parcel, and a path between the northern and southern plots. A blue crosshatched area is shown in the northeastern corner of the northern plot, suggesting this was a glasshouse. [3] The footprint of the plots is repeated on the 25 inch 2nd Edition map. The glasshouse is also shown; however, the paths and planting is not depicted. [4] The two land parcels are shown on the 2022 MasterMap data. The glasshouse is not visible. A small addition to the Tithe Barn on its southern elevation encroaches into the northern land parcel. [5] It is not clear whether the area to the east of the church was ever incorporated into the walled garden (as shown on the Tithe Map). This is either a mapping error on this document, or the land was only ever briefly included in the garden, perhaps after the houses were removed. [6] The former walled kitchen gardens of Dunster Castle to the north and east of the Parish Church are now known as The Priory Gardens, and were bought by the town in 1980. They form a remarkably extensive and tranquil historic landscape feature within the heart of Dunster and contain a variety of ornamental trees and shrubs as well as some ancient cordoned fruit trees. [7]