On 16th August 2025, 10 of our Strollers gathered together at the Nunney Café after a beautiful drive through the east Mendips. The café is tiny but very popular; the owner had kindly reserved tables for us, and we were made most welcome. The coffee and cake was good too.
We began to follow the 2-mile Nunney Heritage trail, starting at the impressive Castle.
The castle was built as a fortified manor house surrounded by a moat in 1373; it was besieged and captured by the Roundheads in the Civil War in 1645. The walls remain largely intact and encircled by the moat, which makes a very attractive backdrop for the village.
A friendly villager took a group photo for us and then volunteered to collect the key to the Guard House so we could look inside. This is a tiny lock-up or prison built in 1824 for anyone misbehaving in the village. We continued past many listed cottages, which were the homes and workshops of weavers and other clothing workers. On to visit Penny’s Mill, the site of a mill recorded in 1086, as a woollen mill and later grinding corn. We continued to the marketplace which was granted a royal charter in 1260 for an annual fair around St Martin’s day, 11th November and a weekly market on Wednesdays. The market and fair ceased long ago, but the annual fair has recently been revived as a summer event. Through the High Street and Church Street, admiring many historic buildings, we came to All Saints church, of much interest, notably the finely carved effigies of past owners of the Castle and Manor. Opposite we paused at a beautiful spot beside Nunney Brook where past generations washed and dyed the cloth produced nearby. The last section of our walk continued down to Nunney Combe and the site of a former Fussells mill making edged tools like scythes. We then retired for drinks and lunch at the George Inn opposite the Castle, sitting in the garden in the welcome shade of a magnificent willow tree beside the Nunney stream.
A pleasant stroll through history in a beautiful village. Just right for a hot sunny day.