Dunster Castle
Somerset
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Dunster
Castle is to be found on the north facing wooded
slopes of the Exmoor Hills alongside
the picturesque village of Dunster, near
Minehead in north Somerset. The Castle built during
Norman times has been the ancestral home of the
Luttrell family for 600 years, who gave it to The
National Trust in 1976.
The Castle was remodelled between 1868 and 1872 which is the most likely period when the first central heating system was installed. There is no indication in the building that a warm air heating system was ever installed, and by 1868 wet heating systems were becoming the usual method for heating larger buildings. The main LPHW system has a mixture of several types of Ideal Radiators. The plain 4-column, plain 3-column, plain wall and window pattern that date from the very early 1900's, manufactured by the National Radiator Company Ltd. |
Some
examples of the heaters which date
from the original heating
system still remain in the shape of semi-ornate
box-ended pipe coil heaters, most of which are encased
in full or flat faced metal pedestals.
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A remarkable engineering services discovery of a Perkins single circuit HPHW heating system was made in the Estates Offices. This is the first Perkins single circuit loop to be found by the Heritage Group. |
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The expansion pipe
vessel (for the Perkins system) complete with the
top-up and air venting connections is sited
in a spiral stone staircase at the highest
point of the pipework system.
The extra long spanners that can be seen, were necessary to be able to securely tighten the plugs fitted at the filling and air venting positions in the pipework. The very high operating pressure and temperature of the Perkins system made it essential that all fittings in the pipework were tightly sealed. |