Dovecotes

The next monument type to star in our ‘Feature of the Season’ project is dovecotes.

Dovecote is a general name that is used to describe any structure or architectural feature built to house pigeons or doves. They occur in a wide variety of sizes and forms throughout the country and have a long history of use.

A dovecote built into the roof
of a house in Clapham

The birds they housed were viewed as a valuable commodity which provided their owners with many resources, including eggs and meat for food, and feathers for bedding. Even their droppings were collected and used as a highly effective fertiliser.

The first recorded examples of dovecotes in Britain date to the Roman period, though the few surviving examples suggest that their use was only a marginal activity, and it is not until after the Norman Conquest that they become much more widespread. Indeed, their uptake was so popular that many European nations were forced to enact legislation during the medieval period to regulate their construction and possession, after widespread complaints from peasant farmers tired of having their grain crops eaten by the birds!

Dovecote in Airton, showing
examples of perching ledges

As a result, the ownership of a dovecote was considered to be an indicator of high social status, reflecting the wealth of the lord who could afford to pay the ownership tax. It was not until 1761, that new legislation was introduced in Britain, relaxing the previous rules, and thus allowing any freeholder to keep the birds.

As a result of this new legislation, the construction of dovecotes became much more widespread, and indeed, the dovecotes found within the Yorkshire Dales National Park tend to date from around this period. They are mainly found in the roof spaces of village barns and houses, often above porches. One particularly noteworthy exception however, is a dovecote at Flasby, which was built in the mid-seventeenth century as a freestanding tower, and was later converted to a folly.

Inside Kilnsey Old Hall's
dovecote before it was converted
to domestic use, showing the
nesting boxes

Dovecotes normally have the entrance holes at height, and tight internal access doors, to make it difficult for ground based predators, such as weasels, martens and rats to gain access. The number of entrance holes is not necessarily an indicator of the number of nesting boxes contained within the dovecote, indeed the interiors of surviving dovecotes show a great variety of construction forms, with some being able to house a considerable number of birds, and others none at all; being purely decorative features. Sometimes the entrance holes were accompanied by perching ledges designed to make it easier for the birds to enter and leave the dovecote. They were also generally constructed away from large trees that could provide shelter for birds of prey, and are usually shielded from the prevailing wind.

Inside Kilnsey Old
Hall's dovecote
following conversion to
domestic use.

Dovecotes can be quite vulnerable features of the historic environment, as the renovation and conversion of buildings can often overlook the historical importance of these intriguing features. Any information we could learn about the distribution and form of these features, whether through examination of surviving structures, or through documentary references, would be a great help in developing our understanding of their use. It would also help us to better understand their relationship with the buildings they inhabit, particularly where dated examples can be identified. If we can identify more examples, and gain a greater knowledge of their design and distribution, we can greatly aid our ability to conserve and protect them in the future.