Bats and Dunster Castle

Dunster Castle is no longer the home of the Luttrell family, nor is Anthony Salvin's Kitchen Wing busy with servants, but it is the home to several species of British bat.

Sixteen species of bat five in Britain, and this area of Somerset is home to ail of them. In the kitchen wing there are Greater Horseshoe, Lesser Horseshoe, Natterers and Brown Long-eared bats.

They five in the many passages of the kitchen wing and in the cellars, larders, workshops, spiral stair turrets and the old kitchen.

Bats live in the castle throughout the year. During the winter they hibernate where once there would have been servants noisily working. These rare mammals also come to the castle occasionally for roosting on summer days.

There is a nursery roost of Lesser Horseshoe bats in the roof void of the stable block. It is believed that various species have used this area for over fifty years. When the National Trust Bat Conservation Officer visited the Castle he found a Grey Long-eared bat in the roof void of the stable block. This is a very rare find in the West Country.

At Dunster Castle the parkland, oak woodland and heathland features much rare wildlife including several internationally-important bat species, such as the grey long-eared and both the greater and lesser horseshoe.

'Batcams' at Dunster enable visitors to get even closer to the endangered bats that live above the Stables — because they are to be capture on camera and the footage replayed on monitors. The 'Batcams' are in the Stables shop. The colony of Lesser Horseshoe bats return from hibernation around May to breed.

Bats favour large historic houses or old woodlands. However, a sheltered river valley or beside a tall shed can also be fruitful. These small flying mammals have sadly become increasingly rare due to loss of roosts and suitable habitat. South West England is now the stronghold for most of our 16 species of Bats. The navigate by sonar at night and are remarkably agile. Nocturnal mammals, bats are normally see swooping at high-speed overhead. Best seen at dusk as they are often close to streetlights where they hunt moths and other night flying insects.

Grey Long Eared Bat

Horseshoe bat

The National Trust’s Holnicote Estate (SS9146) covers some 12,500 acres of Exmoor National Park. The estate includes the Horner Woodlands NNR, which consists of two sites, Horner Woods (SS8945) and Dunkery Hill, an upland area of heathland. This beautiful, ancient oak woodland is important for ferns, lichens, mosses and liverworts. No fewer than 14 of the UK’s 16 bat species reside here.

Dunster Castle is home to some of Britain's rarest bats and visitors can watch these fascinating creatures live by using the Castle's bat camera. The camera, which was bought with support from the Exmoor Sustainable Development Fund, is located in the summer roost of the Castle's resident Lesser Horse Shoe Bats and visitors can view the bats on a monitor located in the Tenants Hall. Evening 'bat' walks around the gardens and park led by expert naturalists are organised each summer and these can be booked on 01643 821314.

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