Dunster's mills

The little river Avill drove a surprising number of corn and fulling mills in the Middle Ages. Dunster was a market for corn and it is likely that the mills also served a wider area than the parish. The first recorded fulling mill belonged to Dunster manor in 1279 and by the 15th century there were several. Even after the economic decline of the mid 18th century it was said in the 1780s that the river ran six grist mills, an oil mill and two fulling mills. Today the surviving watermill, in the care of the National Trust, produces traditional stone ground flour.