@tiredmomma 4 November 2022

'Dunster Castle's Medieval Gateway and Oubliette' This is Dunster Castle's 13th-century gateway and is the oldest surviving part of the castle. This was partly demolished in 1650 following the English Civil War. To the right, there's this Oubliette (Pit Dungeon). Oubliette means 'to forget' in French and that's what the place is for. There I was in the last photo standing on the now sealed pit. Prisoners would have been lowered into that dark, damp space that you called the pit dungeon through a trap door forgotten about and left to die. Imagine that. And many medieval castles have these underground cells beneath a gatehouse to hold their prisoners. We've been told that the former owner of Dunster Castle, Sir Walter Luttrell unearthed a 7-foot-tall skeleton manacled to the wall by his wrists and ankles on the excavation in the 19th century. I didn't stay long in there as it feels creepy inside. I can imagine how dreadful it is to be left dying in such a place.