Luttrell Arms Hotel, Dunster

An imposing sandstone building of around 1500 with later additions. An imposing stone porch leads into a passage to the reception at the rear. On the left side of the corridor is an ancient timber partition wall beyond which is the lounge with a fine 17th-century relief plaster ceiling: on the lounge side of the partition there are a couple of faint, late medieval representations of boats.

Further to the left is a small public bar where the fittings may date from the 1950s when the Trust House hotel group bought the building, having leased it since 1929. It has a two-sided bar counter, settle seating with fielded panelling down one side of the room and modern quarry-tile floor.

The main bar is a wonderful room at the rear: it has a ceiling with heavy, moulded oak beams, a large old stone fireplace with a log fire, carved chairs and a short high-backed settle. The counter is a most attractive piece and is probably inter-war in date although the copper top is more likely to 1950 or ’60s work. The back fittings in the servery are mostly modern but some of the lower shelving may be old.

The old door at the rear leads to a small room on two levels, recently brought into use, with an old stone fireplace housing a fireback. This room is the scene on Christmas Eve for burning the ‘ashen faggot’, a bundle of ash stakes bound with bands of bark. This custom is a South West variant of burning the Yule log and was revived at the Luttrell Arms in 1935.