Dunster came under Taunton as a Fifth Clause Post and then became a Sub-Post Office from February 1829 (so mail to/from Dunster was charged at the appropriate General Post mileage rate). It was issued with a "778" numeric obliterator in 1844.
It is not clear from the markings above whether the Maltese Cross was applied in Dunster or in Taunton, as the wrapper has both Dunster and Taunton handstamps.
"The Maltese Cross, Volume 2" by Prof. S. David Rockoff and Mike Jackson devotes 3½ pages to Taunton and is also not clear whether Dunster had its own Maltese Cross cancel. Their rule-of-thumb is that if an office received a numeral obliterator in 1844 then (probably) it had been cancelling stamps with a Maltese Cross immediately prior, so on this basis Dunster should have had a Maltese Cross.
Taunton was issued a replacement Maltese Cross on 25th August 1843, with an impression recorded in the Proof Books.
Could this Maltese Cross have been acquired by Taunton for Dunster ? It was normal practice for Post Towns to order handstamps for their sub-offices and Dunster remained a sub-office of Taunton right up until 1932 when it transferred to Minehead.
Here are enlarged views of the two strikes:
It does not look to me as if these are the same handstamp - in particular in the bottom (actual) strike, the top-left of the middle cross is stretched out to the left. This does not appear in the proof strike in any quadrant.
Looking at the Maltese Crosses for Taunton illustrated in "The Maltese Cross, Volume 2", they are characterised in general by being poor strikes, so the clarity of this strike may suggest that it is not from Taunton and thus from Dunster.
However the jury is still out on this - what do you think ?
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