NUNNEY, a village, a parish, and a sub-district, in Frome district, Somerset. The village stands 3½ miles S W by W of Frome r. station; and has a post-office under Frome, and a cattle fair on 11 Nov. The parish contains also the hamlet of Trudox Hill, and comprises 2, 421 acres. Real property, £5, 483. Pop., 1,088. Houses, 269. The property is divided among a few. The manor belongs to James Theobald, Esq. Nunney Castle was erected, in the time of Edward III. or in that of Richard II., by Sir Elias De la Mere; was an oblong moated structure, with a tower at each angle; rose, in its central part, to the height of four stories; passed to thefamily of Paulet, ancestors of the Dukes of Bolton; wassold, in the time of Elizabeth, by the first Marquis of Winchester; passed through several families to the Theobalds; was garrisoned, for the king, in the civilwars of Charles I.; sustained a stiff siege by the troops of Cromwell; surrendered on condition that the garrison should go to their own homes; was afterwards dismantled; is now a massive, mouldering, ivy-clad, picturesque ruin; and retains, in its S E tower, a very fine specimen of an ancient domestic chapel. Remains of a Roman camp are near the village; and remains of a Roman tesselated pavement, in good preservation, were discovered, not many years ago, on the property of J. H. Shore, Esq. A pretty dell, called Holwell valley, watered by an affluent of the Frome river, is about ½ a mile from the village. Limestone abounds, and is calcined in several kilns; and the manufacture of edge-tools is carried on. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Bath and Wells. Value, £400.* Patron, J. Theobald, Esq. The church is early English; consists of nave, aisles, and chancel, with porch and tower; and contains a fine old oak screen and five ancient tombs with recumbent effigies. There are chapels for Independents, Wesleyans, Primitive Methodists, and United Free Methodists, national schoolsfor boys and girls, and charities £71.—The sub-district contains also six other parishes and parts of two others. Pop., 4, 589. Houses, 1,058.

(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))