History
The village was recorded as Dunnyete meaning Dunna's gate in 725.
Donyatt was part of the hundred of Abdick and Bulstone.
In 1328 it was the birthplace of William Montacute, 2nd Earl of Salisbury, whose family held the manor and built a castle or fortified manor house. It had a manorial chapel and it is from this that a Sheela na Gig was recovered and is now incoproated into a private house.
The almshouses in Church Street date from 1624, and were founded under the will of John Dunster of London (died 1625). Next to them is the old school house, which was built in the early 19th century, and the old school which dates from 1871.
The Old clay puddling house, a circular thatched building, is a former pottery dating from the 18th century, when there were also woollen-mills in the village. Thirty-three examples of pottery from Donyatt have been identified from five sites in Virginia and Maryland.
The "Sea Bridge" carries the road over a stream. IT was built in the 18th century with three semi- circular arches.
Donyatt has been listed by English Heritage as a Conservation Area at risk with a current condition status of Very Bad.
Donyatt had a small halt along the Chard Branch Line just before Ilminster, which served the local community, it was constructed from sleepers laid horizontally and pegged together to form a basic platform structure, a small over canopy "shed" served as a shelter during the winter months, access to the platform was gained by crossing over the bridge and accessing an inclined path. The Halt is next to some World War II defences used on the Taunton Stop Line, with anti-tank traps around the station. During the threat of invasion, an inspection post could be quickly setup between Donyatt and Ilminster to stop and check the trains before proceeding on the down line "to" and "from" Chard. This was achieved by placing a barrier on some cut out stones entering the Donyatt Halt, you can see these if you wonder why there are two opposite stones on the cycle path, one will have a hole cut into it to act as a pivot for the barrier.
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