A Book of Dovecotes

A B O O K O F D O V EC OT E S

’e BY A R THU R Oil éfOOKE A UTHOR OF “ THE FOREST OF D EAN ”

T . N . FOUL IS PU BLISHE , R LOND ON E DI N BU GH 69' BO , R , ST ON Thi s wo rk i s publi she d by F O U L IS T . N .

LONDON ! 1 Gre at R ussell St e e t W . C . 9 r , EDINBU R GH 1 5 Fre d e ri ck S tre e t BOSTON 1 5 A shburton Place ' L e R a P/i llz s A en t ( y r j , g )

A nd ma a so be o d e re d th ou h the o o wi n a enci e s y l r r g f ll g g , whe re the work m ay be exami ne d

A U STR A LA S IA ! The O ord U ni ve si t re ss Cathe d a ui di n s xf r y P , r l B l g , 20 F i nd e s Lane M e bourne 5 l r , l

A NA D A ! W . C . e 2 Ri ch m o nd Stre e t . We st To onto C B ll , 5 , r

D NM A R K ! A aboule va rd 28 o e nh a e n E , C p g (N 'r r ebr os B oglza n d e l)

Publis hed i n N ovem é e r N in e teen H un dr e d a n d

Pr in ted i n S cotla nd by

T D E d z n é u r /z . R . R . C L A R K , L . g ’ grey- wi ngd d ove s

A r ound th e m v e ﬂ ossy d o e cot s y.

I L L I M R N E W A BA S .

PREFAC E

FOR one apology at least the author Of A B ook ‘ of D oz/ecoz es has no need ; he is not called upon to ﬁnd excuses for producing “ yet another ” O volume on the subject chosen for his pen . N such work has yet been published , and , with the exception of one or two magazine articles , none of them of very recent date , the enquirer must turn to the Transactions or Proceedings of certain local antiquarian societies ; public ati o ns i n t e re s t i n and which , accurate , g, valuable as their contents may be , are not too readily accessible to the general reader . Moreover , suchsources ofinformation cover lessthanhalf a - dozen English counties . What is the special interest of the subject ? ” Are not all dovecotes pretty much ali ke ? i t

may be asked . The answer to this question is “ ” t cal N e mpha i ly O . It would be difﬁcultto ﬁnd

two dovecotes quite identical in every detail , architectural style , shape , size , design of door Of way , means entrance for the inmates , num

ber and arrangement of the nests . For these

Old - structures , built in ﬁeld or fold yard , park

or garden , date from long ago . They were designed and built by craftsmen gifted with v n BOOK O F DOVECOTES

t ho u h t h e imagination , who , g y worked to some i n extent upon a pattern , loved to leave their dividual mark upon the thing they fashioned with their hands . O ur British dovecotes , too , are growing fewer every year . Many have vanished alto gether , some by wanton demolition , others by h neglect . The time has surely come at w ich to chronicle a few Of those that still remain ; to draw attention to their frequent beauty ; call to mind the interest which attaches to them ; plead for their more careful preservation , and — not altogether needlessly— make clear the reason why they came to occupy their places in our land . Something personal is due from the writer ; Of on one hand to the reader this volume , on the other to the many who have lent their aid in its production . Born in Herefordshire , a county in which dovecotes are both numerous

I u and beautiful , had often felt s rprise and dis appointment at the lack ofprinted information regarding these delightful buildings ; and I have at length ventured to attempt something , however little and however imperfectly , which v m PREFACE

may perhaps serve , in legal phrase , to open the case . The book is very far from being exhaustive ; many counties have perforce been left entirely f untouched , though an ef ort has been made to deal with most districts of England , and to some extent with Scotland and Wales . The

’ coln méa r znm Of story of the Roman , as the

' eo/omé ze r French , hasbeen lightly sketched ; so also with the laws concerning dovecotes , both f in Britain and in France . What is here of ered ’ nor s - d ce nz/r e a s e ri o u s is , in short , a rather than course , far less a solid meal . S O much as an apology for imperfections ; gratitude remains to be expressed . A certain number of the dovecotes marshalled for i n spe ct i o n in the following pages are well known Old to me , some being familiar friends . For a knowledge Of others I am largely indebted to the late Chancellor Ferguson ’ s “ Pigeon ” Houses in Cumberland , a paper published in the Tr a nsa ct i ons of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and A rc hae o log “ v o l 1 8 8 —8 8 ical Society , . ix . , 7 ; to The Dove ” s cotes of Worcestershire , an exhau tive , de ix BOOK OF DOVECOTES

lightful , and well illustrated account by the R e Honourable Mrs . Berkeley , printed in the p or ts a nd Pap e r s of the Architectural Societ 1 0 —6 ies , vol . xxviii 9 5 ; to articles by Alfred

Watkins , Esq . , who has dealt with Here f o rd shi re and other dovecotes in the Te a m ’ a cti ons of the Woolhope Naturalists Field 1 8 0 Club for 9 , and elsewhere ; and to the care ful and detailed accounts of N o rt ha mpto n shi re a examples by Major C . A . Markham , now p

‘ ‘ pearingfrom time to t i me i n N or zé a mp z ons/éi r e ’ N te a na u e r i es TO - o s Q . the two last named Of gentlemen , as also to Mr . H . E . Forrest I Shrewsbury , owe much for kindly help in

other ways .

But personal knowledge , even with this aid , would have gone but a short way to ﬁll the

present volume . Doubtless the ideal method for the dovecote - hunter is to sling a rucksack

- on his shoulder , take a walking stick , a camera ,

- a - and thick soled boots , and go foot through all the by- ways of the land in quest of his

peculiar prey . Failing the possibility of such I a tempting course , am indebted to all those

who , upon receipt of a portentous list of ques x PREFAC E

tions , spared no pains to give the details of some dovecote which they either owned or knew . In a few cases only was the inform ation asked for tacitly refused .

All over Britain , from Caithness to Corn wall , there have risen up to help me those who , total strangers when the post presented at Of their heads a blunderbuss questions , now , in many cases , seem to occupy the place of kindly friends , so heartily have they assisted , and so generous the encouragement and inter est which they offered to the work . Clergy m have left their studies , far ers snatched an Of hour fromthe busyfields spring ; landowners , — ladies terms no doubt at times synonymous , — f m e n h av e with army o ficers and naval , gone a rd e n t h e re out into yard or field or g , to photo o r graph sketch , to measurewalls andwindows ,

- note the number and the shape of nest holes , so that they might send so clear and full a verbal picture of their dovecote that it seem

ed to stand before my eyes . To name a few u i m wo ld be invidious , and to speak of all Of possible . They must be fully conscious the Of n lavish measure their kindness to a stra ger , xi BOOK OF DOVECOTES

I u nr e and , hope , will not feel altogether warded by the very grateful thanks he Offers to them here .

A R THUR O C K E . OO .

D U BL IN ST R E E T 38 ,

IN H M a 2 D B U R G 1 0 . E , y 9 TA BLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE p age v i i

L M B R M I . TH E ROMAN CO U A I U

F C COL OM B I E R I I . TH E REN H

I I I TH N G L I S H D O C OT . E E VE E

FO S IV . H ERE RD H I RE

OPS V . S H R H I RE

WO C S W W C K VI . R E TER AN D AR I

P O B U C K I I . N O THA T N I N GHA V R M , M , AN D H U NTI N GD ON

P O S OF C U C V I I I . I GE N TH E H R H

C S W O L I . LAN A H I S T AN D X RE , E M R , AN D C U M B ER LAN D

YO KS X . R H I RE

S S S U FFOL K X I . E EX AN D

XI I . D OVEC OTE S N EAR LON D ON

X I I I S S P W L . U S HA S H I AN D I T EX, M RE , S H I RE

LO XIV . G U CE S TER AN D OXFORD

O OU W XV . M N M TH S H I RE AN D ALE S 1 95 BOOK O F DOVECOTES

I D ON AN D C O N WA LL XV . EV R .

I I S O S T AN D D O S T ' XV . MER E R E

S C O S “ OOC O XVI I I . TH E TTI H D T

I I N AN D A OU N D D I N B U GH X X . R E R

O XX . HADD I NGT N S H I RE

I LS WH I N S C OT LAN D XX . E E ERE

I N DEX OF D OVEC OTE S D E S CR I BED OR MENTI ONED LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

BA N TA SKI N E R F r onti s i ece S OUTH , FALKI K p

W son . W. M G. F r om a p a s te l by M iss . il ’ C OLOMBI E R DU MA NOI R D ANGO A V AR E NGE V ILLE p age 1 6 “ ’ ’ l r i e a n a zs e . B ! an d er m s F r om M a n ue d a c/ze olog ﬁ c y p i M s s r s A l konse c a r e t i ls Pa r s . s ion of e p d / , i DOVE COTE OF SOUTH E R N F R ANC E

M C M R C E E R E OR S R E U H A L , H F D HI “ F r anz F o r m a l Ga r de ns of E ngla n d a n d S cot la n d. “ m ss on o M e ssr s . B . T. B a t 0r d L td . p er i i f s/ , B O SE E R E OR S R E a ce 8 UTT H U , H F D HI f 4 F r om a w a ter -co lour dr a w ing R E R E OR S R E GA WAY , H F D HI

B O S E E R E OR S R E UTT H U , H F D HI ’ CO R R M R C R S C S E E R E OR S R E U T FA , I HA D A TL H F D HI E PE MB R O E S R E ANGL HALL, K HI

OLD S U FTON E R E OR S R E , H F D HI “ F r om F or m a Ga r e ns o E n la n a n d S otla n l d f g d c d.

e r m z s s zon o M es s r s B T B a t or L td . p f . . sf d, E S R E S B R WHIT HALL, H W U Y ' k n r m i ss z on o t h e P l s e r s o Co n t r L e By i d f e f ub i h f u y if . D OR MSTON E OR CE S E R S R E , W T HI “ a n a n d a F r om F or m a l Ga r de ns of E ngl d S cot l n d. '

er m i ss z on M essr s B. T. B a t or L td . p of sf d, E OR CE S E R S R E ODDINGL Y, W T HI F r om F or m a l Ga r den s of E ngla n d a n d ' e r m ss on o M e ss r s B 1 B a ts or p i i f . . f d, COMP O E S R C S R E a ce 6 T N WYNYAT , WA WI K HI f 9

' F r om a /z o to r a lt é M ss E . A a lz t p g p y i lg . CLA TTE R COTE PR OR OX OR S R E I Y, F D HI

r a M s . F r om a koto lz s E A . K n lz t p g p by i i g .

E O - I N - THE— O S OR S N WT N WILL W , N THANT “ ” F m li a m n r o N or t p to slz i r e N otes a n d Quer ies . R E S O OR S HA L T N , N THANT “ F r om N r th a m t on slz i t a o p r e N o es n d Quer ies . OVE CO E E R OR S O PO E CE D T INT I , H WING T N

TWO PIGE ONS ON A R OOF f a ce r o m a w a t r - olo r r a 6 r F e w n . a w a c u d i g y I C /t ll. B OOK O F DOVECOTES

E B U R L E E S OR S R E LITTL , Y K HI

F r om a ot o r a b H . Ps K e n d a ll E s . ph g ph y a , q

LA D YE P CE R E B E R S R E LA , HU L Y, K HI ° B e r m z ss zon o M essr s We l o r n e 69 S im son L td . M a r low y ﬁ f b u p ,

M COMB E OX OR S R E IL , F D HI

F r om a r s s E A . K n t . pho tog a ph by M i . igh

B S O S E MPS R E A ING H U , HA HI

M S E R OVE OX OR D S R E IN T L L , F HI F r om H w a s a n d B w a s i n Ox or a n d th t w l igh y y y f d e Co s o ds . B e r m zs s z on M es s r s M a c m illa n 69° Co L t y p of d .

OR O C E S E R S R E DAGLINGW TH , GL U T HI “ F r o m H ighw ays a n d Byw ays zn Oxf or d a n d th e Cotsw old s ° e i n s r M a m a n 85 C0 L td . By p r m ss zo of M es s . c ill

C S E O OX OR S R E . HA TL T N , F D HI F r om H ighw ays a n d Byw a ys z n Oxf o r d a nd th e Co ts w old s B e r m iss ion o M ess r s M a m illa n ° C0 L td 69 . y p f . c

B M’ S ME COMBE OR S E INGHA L , D T W D R YL A E S O . , A T LINT N

F r om a a zn t z n R o e r t H o e A. R . S . A . p g by b p , S PO O S R E TT, HADDINGT N HI

PHA N TA S S I E O S R E , HADDINGT N HI

E S S O S E O S R E LUFFN H U , HADDINGT N HI

ME R O O S E O S R E . GIL T N H U , HADDINGT N HI

A THE LSTA N E FOR D O S R E , HADDINGT N HI

B R O S R E DUN A , HADDINGT N HI

R E O C S E O S R E DI L T N A TL , HADDINGT N HI

O C S E O S R E TANTALL N A TL , HADDINGT N HI

ME GGI N CH C S E PE R S R E A TL , TH HI M S R O S C E SS . T A I LAND, AITHN ‘ R ep r od u cedf r om R ep or ts of th e R oya l Co m m zss z on on A n cz e n t a n d H z s t or z ca l! i on m ts 1) e r m zss zon H M S l tio f u en . yp of . a n e r y Oﬁc e . I LLU STRATI ONS

OR S E O S E CA I THN E S S a ce 2 6 F H U , f 7 ‘ R epr od u ce df r om R epor ts of th e R oya l Com m iss ion on A ncie n t i s o a n d H zs tor zc t lAlon u m e n ts. By t e r m s z n of H M . S ta t ia n

PI TTE N R I E FF E E S R E C GL N , FIF HI

D OU GA LS TON M V E MB R O S R E . , ILNGA I , DU A T N HI

R OS C S E E S R E YTH A TL , FIF HI

COR S OR P E E B R T HIN , DIN U GH

ME R TOU N O S E B E R C S R E H U , WI K HI “ R ep r o ducedf r om R epor ts of th e R oya l Com m zss zon on A n c ze n t a nd H zs tor zca lM on m en ts B e r m zss z on o 111 t t z n u y p f H . S a o

e ny Oﬁce .

C H A PTER ONE TH E ROMAN CO LU M BA RI UM I N a book so limited in size and scope as the present volume , a learned disquisition on the i e o n o n lac e i n p g , its p former ages and in many lands , with an excursus on the subject of its prehistoric ancestry, will hardly be expected , and assuredly will not be given . We are con cerned chieﬂy with the dovecotes of England and Scotland ; and though some enthusiastic owner of an ancient pigeon - house may claim that it descends from Saxon times , it will hardly be seriously disputed that the keeping o ofpigeons in Great Britain , with the constru tion of dovecotes in which to house them , had i h its beginning in , and came from , although directly , Rome . A word or two on Roman

- pigeon keeping , then , will not be altogether out ofplace ; and happily our knowledge ofthe subject has its bases soundly ﬁxed on such re liable authorities as Pliny the Elder andVarro , with some useful support from Columella .

Pliny , after noticing the ﬁdelity and com ne s bat i v e s of the dove , reminds us that dur B OOK O F DOVECOTES D ing the siege of Mutina , ecimus Brutus de s pat che d to the Consuls a message fastened

to the foot of a pigeon ; the modern method ,

it may here be mentioned , is to tie the letter

underneath a wing . The use of pigeons as letter- carriers during thesiege of Paris in I 8 70 may well be known to many who are unaware that the Germans attempted to destroy such Of messengers by means hawks . Pigeons , too , played their part as message - bearers in the recent war . Pliny goes on to speak of the “ mania for pigeons , which , in his day , existed to such an extent in Rome that veritable “ towns were sometimes built upon the roofs of houses for

their use ; and ﬁnally sets down , no doubt in

all good faith , a few beliefs which , current

in his time , will hardly survive collision with

modern science . He states , for example , that — if the body of a ti nn u ncu lu s by which C uvier believed him to have meant the kestrel— were buried underneath each corner of the pigeon

house , its occupantswouldnotdesert the place . He also speaks of a peculiar venom in the

teeth of human beings, which not only tar 4 COLUM BA RI UM

ni she d the brightness of metal mirrors , but f provedfatal to youngun ledgedpigeons , which “ ” we now call squabs . Allusion is also made to the special fondness of pigeons for the mixed a r ra o grain called by the Romans f g , a word which has descended to us with a different sense . Much interesting information as to Roman pigeon - keeping will be found in the proper ’ R u r u m section of Varro s R e r u m sti ca . Two f dif erent breeds were chieﬂy kept . One was a r este the wild rock pigeon , g , of a mixed or S h dappled colour; y in its habits , keeping to house gables or high towers , feeding in the

cle me nti us distant ﬁelds . The other, , was a

white bird ; very common , and quite tame

enough to feed about the doorstep , but not

- greatly in requestwith pigeon keepers , for the reason that its snowy plumage made it a con s i c u o u s p prey for hawks . The birds most largely bred for table were a cross (m i scellu m)

of these two , and were usually housed in what was sometimes called ape r i ste r on orﬁe r i ste r o t r o hi on p , which might hold as many as ﬁve thousand birds . 5 BOOK OF DOVECOTES

The Roman colu mba r i u m was usually round Of the vaulted roof being generally stone , n though tiles were sometimes used . The e trance was small , and the windows either lat ticed or covered with a double trellis to ensure the birds against the invas ion of snakes and The other vermin . interior surface ofthe walls was covered with a smoothly worked cement made from ground marble , while the outer face immediately a round the windows was often similarly treated , so that no foothold O might be ffered to small climbing animals .

- The nest holes , very similar to those that we

- may see to day in many an English dovecote , lined the walls from ﬂoor to roof; the entrance to each being only large enough to admit the bird , but the whole expanding inwards to the breadth ofa foot . Sometimes the nests appear c i rc u la r a n d to have been , . in some instances they were constructed of a kind of porcelain . Before each row of nests there was a shelf eight inches broad , to serve as an alighting place and promenade . There was one detail in the construction

- of a Roman pigeon house which , though it 6 COLU M BA RI UM

wa may possibly have found its yto France , seems never to have reached Britain . This was an arrangement by which the birds could be fed from the exterior of the house through an elaborate system of pipes and troughs . The troughs were placed all round the tiers

- of nest holes , while the pipes communicating with them had their oriﬁce outside the walls . The most perfect nicety of adjustment must have been required , since the pipes were called on to convey , not smoothly ﬂowing water, but a great variety of grain , such as peas , beans , millet , refuse wheat , and vetches . It may perhaps be fairly doubted whether so complicated an arrangement was in very general use .

Varro seems to recommend that water , not only for drinking but for washing purposes , f u should low into the ho se, and one authority suggests the provision of a fairly large bath

- we ing basin in the centre of the ﬂoor, a hint shall in due course ﬁnd followed in an ancient

English dovecote . Columella, on the contrary , favoured the use of small drinking - vessels which would admit the pigeon ’ s head and neck B OOK OF DOVECOTES

alone , on the ground that bathing was bad for

the eggs on which hen birds might be sitting . Pigeons being very cleanly birds the keeper of the columbarium was to sweep the house ad out several times a month , and that for the di t i o n al reason that the manure yielded was u s e o f t hi s ofthe highest quality . The present manure as a tanning agent for certain classes i o f sk n s is not alluded to . Varro goes on to S peak of the desirability of the window or windows admitting plenty of

- sunlight , and of the necessity of a netted off chamber for the sitting hens ; also that these S hould have a due amount of exercise and air, S lest , saddened by the lavery of continued conﬁnement , they might lose their health . It seems that the occupants of a pigeon house were expected to draw others of their ’ kind to swell the owner s colony ; for the pigeon - keeper is reminded that if his birds are anointed with myrrh , or if a little cummin or od old wine be added to their usual fo , the pigeons of the neighbourhood , attracted by the sweetness of their breath , would follow them . This recipe , or something very like it , 8

B OOK O F DOVECOTES while a boiled goat ’ s head forms a prominent feature of another prescription for the same purpose . It is melancholy to observe that the i m “ morality o f any attempt to decoy your neigh bour ’ s pigeons ” to your own dovecote does not seem to occur to either Roman or British writer . Hawks were a frequent menace to the Of A pigeons Rome . method of snaring them was to take two twigs , lime them , and bend them towards each other till they formed an arch , below which could be placed as bait the carcass of some favourite prey . Young birds intended for speedy fattening were separated from their elders as soon as covered with down . They were then fed , or “ ” rather crammed , to use the modern poultry ’ keeper s phrase , with white bread already half chewed by men specially hired for the work . These men were highly paid , as one would fancy they deserved to be ; indeed it was a question with experts whether the game

was worth the candle , the wages of the Chew S ers eating up the extra value of the quabs . 1 0 CO LUM BA RI UM

Young pigeons are , as will be known to many ,

- fed by their parents upon half digested food . The English farmer ’ s wife who wishes to fatten quickly a clutch Of young ducklings is careful to give them no Opportunity of swim ming , but conﬁnes them in a narrow pen and doles out water only with their food . The Roman pigeon - keeper had more drastic me t ho d s t h e i r le s with hissquabs ; he broke g , todo al away with all excess ofexercise . Columella , most as though h e had an eyeupon the modern British reader and inspectors of the hastens to add that the pain caused by the Op e ra ti o n di s a e are d i n pp two , or at the most three days . It may have been so ; but one cannot Of help recalling the remark Sydney Smith , who , when a man recounted how he had been re bitten without any provocation by a dog , “ plied , while sympathising , that he wouldhave ’ f ” liked to have the dog s account of the af air . But Roman pigeon s were not kept ex e lusively for satisfaction of the grosser and material appetites . There are signs of a com “ m e n ce me n t a f a nc o we re i n of y, for pe ple the habit oftaking favourite birds wi t ht he m to the 1 I BOOK O F DOVECOTES

theatre , which , it must be remembered , was

open to the sky , and there releasing them , that “ ” they might S how their homing powers . The prices sometimes asked and paid for

pigeons also points to this . For a handsome

- pair of well bred birds , free from all blemish ,

and of a popular colour or mixture of colours , asmuchastwohundredsesterces— aboutthirty — shillings was a common price ; even a thous and sesterces was occasionally demanded , and a caseis Cited where sixteen hundred had been offered and refused . Persons took up pigeon breeding as a trade or an amusement , or a a blend of both , and might possess a house , p li an c e s p , and birds to the value ofone hundred thousandsesterces , say eight hundred pounds .

Varro , inoneofthose imaginary conversations in which he liked to impart his agricultural knowledge , strongly advises a friendto master in Rome the technicalities of the business , as he there would have before him many ex amples , and might then establish hisbreeding f place in the country . He goes on to of er the truly alluring return of ﬁfty per cent pe r di em / but , unfortunately , thisrosy prospectisnot sup I 2 COLUM BA RI UM ported by any statement of ﬁgures likely to pass the scrutiny of a modern accountant . Having thus given a View of colu mba r i a as

they were in ancient Rome , we move north

westward ; but , before entering Britain , it is

well to make a halt in France . For not only is it practically certain that the ﬁrst builders of the dovecote in England were the Normans ;

but in France we ﬁnd examples which , while very similar in some respects to those of

Britain , yet display in many instances a rich

ness of ornament which we cannot equal .

Many a French dovecote is , as compared to those of our own country , what such Renais

sance Chateaux as Blois , Chenonceaux , and Azay - le - Rideau are to the rugged ruins of

English castle keeps . At least a few French

dovecotes therefore claim to be described , to getherwith some mention ofthe laws concern

ing them .

C H A PTER TWO T H E FRENC H COLOMBI ER COLOMB I E R DU MAN OI R D ’ ANGO A VAR E NGE VILL E (S E I N E ER E R E xv1e S EC E INF I U ), I L

’ F rom M a nue l d a r che ologi ef r a nca i se

BOOK O F DOVECOTES means negligible among the many causes of the Revolution . For in France the right to erect and main tain a colombi er was rigidly restricted ; as in England it was a privilege longconﬁnedto the lord of a manor , so across the Channel it was the exclusive right of three classes of landed

— r a nds usti ci e r s se i neu r s de i e proprietors g j , g f f , Thi s i ha rdl h a nd sezgneur s de censi oe . s yt e pla ce in which toexplain a t le ngt h thedistinctions be tween these three Classes , but it is of interest to note that , excepting in Brittany , there was nodistinction withregardtobirth ; the right be longed to any member of one of the above cla ss e s whe th e r noblesse named , he were of the tu r i e r or a mere r o . But it is doubtful whether this would be any great consolation to the peasant , who , viewing the havoc wrought ’ among his cropsby the lord s birds , would pro bably fail to observe any serious difference be tween the appetites o f pigeons kept by a gentleman of ancient lineage , and of those o f hu mble whose owner came stock . The privilege in question applied merely to colombi e r i i i ed— a p that is , to a substantial 1 8 FRENC H COLOM B I ER buildingwith foundations ﬁrmly planted in the bou li ns ground , and with itsnests , called , cover wa lls ing the interior of the from ﬂoor to roof. The law did not concern itself with the mere u i e ooli er e f or , both ofwhich were ofthe nature of the wooden structures often seen attached

- - to English stable walls and gable ends . Standing apparently on a somewhat de batable ground between these two extremes colombi er su r i li er s was the p , built upon stone

pillars , or sometimes onwoodenposts . Gener ally such a structure was held to be exempt

from restrictions , but in Brittany , as also in ’ colombi er d i ea . Touraine , it ranked as a p Too numerous to be mentioned are the

many local variations of this general law . In some districts a member of the privileged n oblesse orders could , were he of the , erect his dovecote with no questions asked ; as a r otu ri e r he must ﬁrst obtain permission from

authority . The evil of numerous dovecotes was not long in being felt ; and from time to time various measures were taken t o minimise

the wrong . In some parts of France a dove

cote could not be maintained , even by those I 9 B OOK O F DOVECOTES

qualiﬁed as above , unless its owner possessed a r e nts at least ﬁfty p of land . Other steps in the same direction regulated the number of

- nest holes permitted , proportioning them to the size of the domain ; called for proofs of immemorial possession , or for the production ofgood title - deeds ; or insisted that the dove ’ cote should stand i n the centre of its owner s land , in order that his crops should be the ﬁrst a m e li o ra to feel the pinch . But even these tions of an undoubted wrong failed to cure the ’ I 8 F ra nc e s d o v e co t e s evil , and in 7 9 all shared — i n ﬁguratively speaking the general fall .

But happily their fabric , in some cases , still i n survives , and a few specially beautiful or t e r s i n e t g examples call for notice .

It is hardly necessary to say that , during the days in which the dovecote ﬂourished undis t u rbe d in France , it was often the property — of some ecclesiastical establishment abbey , or priory , or a dependency ofsuch ; and it is in the neighbourhood of these that we shall look , not unsuccessfully , for some of the choicest surviving examples . The French dovecote was frequentlywhite 20 FRENC H COLOM BI ER

washed externally , with a view to making it conspicuous to its inmates on their homeward

ﬂight . Charles Waterton , who usually knew rac what he was talking about , says that this p tice was forbidden in England in his father ’ s ’ time , as being likely to attract a neighbour s

birds . The argument seems hardly sound ; but cer t a i nly a whitewashed English dovecote is not

often seen .

It is in France that we ﬁrst hear of, and may

often ﬁnd , an important adjunct of the dove cote which seems not to have been generally ote nce in use in Rome . This was the p , a piece of mechanism used for gaining easy access to

the upper tiers ofnests . The vital portion was a r br e s e cu re d i n a massive beam or , an upright position in the centre of the dovecote bybeing pivoted into socket—holes placed in the ﬂoor

- and roof respectively . In these socket holes

the beam revolved freely at a touch . jutting

horizontally from the beam were several arms , ” ote n ces o r technicallyknownas thep gallows , though the term gradually came to mean the

mechanism as a whole . These arms were not 2 1 B OOK O F DOVECOTES in the same vertical plane , but placed in such a position wi t h ~ r e ga rd to each other that the S ladder they supported had a gentle lope .

This ladder , beingat theends farthestfrom the n central beam , allowed a person standi g on it to search the upper nests for the young birds .

Without descending he could , by gripping the tiers of nests , cause the beam and ladder to revolve , and so move round the house . Sometimes one ladder only was employed but not infrequently the arms projected on Of either side the beam , each end carrying a ladder . This seems a questionable advantage ; it allowed two persons to work together , but unless their rateofprogress coincided thetime v saved must ha e been small . It is easily understood that a potence was

u most seful in a circular or octagonal dovecote , where the ladder would , as it revolved , be a t t e v e r equidistant from the walls y point . In a square dovecote it would be of much less service , giving access indeed to nests in the

middle of each wall , but leaving those placed

in and near the corners out of reach . Yet , in

some cases in England , and quite frequently 2 2 F RENC H C OLOM B I ER

in Scotland , we may ﬁnd a potence placed in a

- square pigeon house .

Sometimes , especially in Auvergne , the dovecote wasconstructed inthedwelling - house to which it was attached . An example occurs Mo nt az i e r at p , in the department ofDordogne , where a gable is pierced bya seriesofentrance holes for the birds . A similar arrangement is found in many English houses , more especially in Yorkshire .

Some of the earliest of French dovecotes , massive circular buildings resembling the R o colu mba r i u m man in their general form , had o f very little actual roof, a large part the dome being open to the sky . This practice does not seem to have been followed later than the four t e e nt h century . Subsequent erections , many built about the sixteenth century , were either round , octagonal or square . The dovecote at

S t . Ou e n , Rouen , wascruciform ; avery unusual shape , of which a ﬁne example was formerly extant in England . In cases where the whole ofthe building was not devoted to pigeons the lower story was put to various uses ; it might f an - orm open shed , a fowl house , stable , cellar , 2 3 BOOK OF DOVECOTES — entrance - gate a frequent case in Auvergne . In one instance at least the pigeon - house sur mounted a well .

- French pigeon keepers , like their Roman brethren , found their ﬂocks extremely subject to attacks from vermin , and took various pre cautions to defeat the pest . Hence probably the form Of dovecote known as the colombi er ‘ ai i ed p , already alluded to ; raised on four , or sometimes eight pillars , there being nothing h n a r but an open shed or a g underneath . Each la r mi er pillar capital had a or coping over it , which it was almost impossible for rats or s i mi la r i nv ade rs A to surmount . nothermethod was to insert in the external surface ofthe walls a cou rs e or two ofhighlypolished bricks ortiles , which formed all round the house a band too

slipperyfor feet and claws togrip . Thismethod , f re not without value as an ornament , was

quently employed in Languedoc . Still more common was the application of a broad string

course to the wall .

The circular dovecotewas longpopular, hav ing among other advantages that of adapting

itself to the introduction of the potence , so 2 4

BOOK O F DOVECOTES in Lisbon that the King of Portugal was glad to compromise the matter by the payment of a large indemnity to the French town . Ango paid dearly for the favour ofthe King of France , advancing heavy loans to his royal patron , and dying poor at last . His manor of — Varengeville is now a farm ; but perhaps all

- — we care about to day his dovecote stands . It is a large circular building constructed entirely of black and red bricks , arranged in striking geometrical designs . The domed roof, terminating at the apex in a pointed pinnacle , is brokenjust above the eaves by three dormer W indows .

Ofsmaller size , but even more ornate , is the dovecote at Boos , a village lying a few miles east of Rouen , on the Paris road . It is an octagonal building , surmounted by a pointed

roof with a circular cornice . The material is

mainly brick , stone being used for the cornice ,

the base , and the angles of the walls , as for

- - the string course half way up . Below this string - course each of the eight sides presents a surface of plain brick ; above

there is elaborate ornament . This is effected 2 6 FRENC H COLOM B IER by the use of bricks ofseveral colours ; they i n clu d e red , in two distinct shades ; with yellow , green and purple , the three last being glazed .

These are arranged in great variety ofpattern .

Further , there is a row of glazed tiles , on the white ground of each being a proﬁle head or other ornament . This dovecote probably dates from the early portion of the sixteenth century , the house towhich it is attached being older still . In southern France it was necessary for the pigeon - keeper to take careful thought for his birds , particularly with regard to the icy blast of the mistral . They needed air and sun , but must be sheltered from the wind .

Consequently , in the neighbourhood ofsuch places as Toulouse and Montauban , we ﬁnd

- high dovecotes ofsquare form , having a lean to roof the S lope of which was towards the south . The highest wall and the two side walls rise

above this roof for several feet , and it thus forms a sheltered place on which the birds can sun themselves at ease . Small pinnacles may

frequentlybe placed at eachofthe four corners ,

so m t i m e s wi t h ro e ct i n e rche s f o r t he bi rd s e p j gp . 2 7 BOOK OF DOVECOTES

The e nt ran ce - holes are place d beneath t he w e ll projecting eaves . It is impossible to study a French dovecote

S ofthis hape , and note the similarity exhibited “ ” - bymany Scottish doo cots , withoutrecalling the long and Close intimacy which existed be — tween Franceand Scotland a n intimacyfrom which England was altogether excluded . It is easy to believe that , at a time when Scots were co ns t an t l i n y France , and Frenchmen occasion i n ally Scotland , observation or suggestion would bring about the adoption in the northern kingdom of forms and methods current with its southern friend . Also tobeseen in southern France are dove cotes of a different plan . They are ofbrick and

Circular, with a domed roof, and two string al courses placed high up the w ls . Such roof,

if left unmodiﬁed , would give the pigeons no

protection from the wind . To obviate this

defect , upon the side from which the mistral

blows, the wall has been continued well above

the roof and carries three small turrets, which are not merelyornamental butaffordadditional

shelter. 2 8 FR E N CH COLOM BIE R

Such then are some , though a few only, of the very interesting dovecotes once existing or still found in France . It is now time to give attention to those nearer home .

D OV E COTE OF S OUTH E R N FR ANCE

C H A PT ER TH REE T H E ENGLI S H DOVECOTE DOVE COTE OF SOUTH E R N F R ANCE

BOOK O F DOVECOTE S

ter months . The agriculturist of Norman and much later days , not having these resources , He f e d had but one course to pursue . his ﬂocks and herds through spring and summer upon a u grass ; then , when the grass grew scant in t u m n , there was a universal slaughter , all save a few breedi ng animals being killed and salted down for winter food . November in Old S la t mo n at German was called g , or slaughter

- month , the Anglo Saxon equivalent being

n h - Blo dm o at or blood month . O n pillars in Carlisle cathedral are seen carvings which dis o f play the various occupations the months .

That for December shows a man , a poleaxe , and an ox about to die . With this elimination of fresh beefand mut ton from the winter bill of fare , we understand how welcome would be any smaller creatures which would live through the lean months and

- yield a never failing stock of appetising food . Such a place was ﬁlled to perfection by the a c pigeon , a bird needing little space for the commodation of several hundreds ; exceed i n l g y proliﬁc and , moreover , capable of pro curing its food over a wide range of country 34 ENGLI S H DOVECOTE

and at little cost . “ With the introduction of roots and the re

su lt i n - g possibility of winter feeding stock , the need for dovecotes naturally decreased ; while there gradually arose a more positive reason f for their alling into desuetude . The peasant a r i cu lt u ri st o f d a s ha d g Norman y seen , no doubt

r e with pain , but certainlywith little thought of monstrance , still less of rebellion , the pigeons of the lord , the abbot , or the parson , battening 0 daily on his scanty cr ps . It was a privilege which it would hardly occur to him to dispute ; he looked upon itasthe naturalcourse ofthings that he should labour to raise crops fromwhich the birds ofhis superiors took a heavy toll , and he was doubtless thankful for the little left for his own use . But with the gradual disappearance of Op pressive privileges these paciﬁc sentiments wouldno longer obtain . Thedovecote , whence there issued with the dawn hundreds of birds ’ who found their living in the farmers . ﬁelds , would be among those objects upon which r e formers turned their eyes . Nor had they far to look . We have it on the word ofSamuel Hart 3 5 BOOK OF DOVECOT ES

’ lib , Milton s friend , that towards the middle of the seventeenth century the number of Eng lish dovecotes was estimated at twenty - six thousand . If we allow ﬁve hundred pairs of pigeons to each cote— a fairly modest com putation , many dovecotes having upwards of one thousand nests— and then remember that a pair of pigeo ns will consume annually four bushels of corn , the enormous loss of grain to farmers will be seen . It is to be understood that for many cen t u r i e s the right to erect and maintain one of u these str ctures was strictly limited . Those so favoured by the Norman laws were the lords of

manors , a class which included not only a vast a ls o abbo t s number oflandowning laymen , but

and other ecclesiastics , the parson of a parish

being frequently among the number . As to this last - named Class there will be something

more to say , especially with reference to the

kind ofdovecote which they sometimes used . This feudal privilege is generally stated to have been abolished during the reign ofEliza

beth . It is certain that during the sixteenth a nd s e v e nt e e nth centuries therewasa large ad 3 6 ENGLI S H DOVECOTE

o u r E n li s h dition to the number of g dovecotes , many being built ; but restrictions still existed I till much later times . In 5 7 7 , for example , a tenant who had erected a dovecote on a royal manor was ordered by the CourtofExchequer lat e r i n to demolish it . Ten years , another case s t i llhe ld t hat ofthe same kind , it was none save the lord of the manor might build a dovecote ; but two out of the three judges decided that therewas no ground for prosec u tion before the ’ Manor Court , the great man s only remedy being a civil action . This decision seems to I have been reafﬁrmed in the days of james . , the lord ofthe manor ’ s sole right to a dovecote la w being still expressly upheld . The upon the point appears to have been still unchanged as late as the ﬁrst quarter of the nineteenth cen tury . The dovecote introduced into this country by the Norman conquerors was of one univer sal type ; a circular and very massive building , having walls three feet or even more in thick

‘ n e s s a nd - , a low domed vaulted roof. This last was , at ﬁrst , most often open in the centre , a round hole admitting not the pigeons only, but 3 7 BOO K O F DOVECOTES

- both light and air . Inside , the nest holes , well designed and accurately built , usually covered the entire surface of the walls . ” The potence we have seen in France , a a i n i n E n li sh i ns t a nce s and are to ﬁnd g many g ,

as well as north of Tweed . But it was often absent from the earlier Norman specimens .

' The open ce n t re t o the roofwould render di f ﬁ cult the placing of a socket for the upper pivot a l of the beam , and it is doubtful whether the t e rn at i v e framework ofpowerful cross - timbers to support the upright was made use of until later times . Gradually the circular dovecote was tosome extent displaced by the lighter and more orna o f mental style the octagonal form , or by the more easily built square or oblong pigeon

- house . Six sided dovecotes , though compara t i v e l y rare , are not unknown , while atleast one

English example was pentagonal . The walls , too , come to be less massive ; windows , either in the walls or in the form of dormers in the roof were introduced ; while a cupola , lantern , ” or glover , crowned the whole . i Stone was of course the ﬁrst mater al , brick 3 8 ENGLI S H DOVECOTE

not coming into use till later days , and even then only in certain districts . But there were local substitutes . In Sussex Chalk or rubble is not uncommon , while in Somersetshire use “ ” o r co b th at was sometimes madeofClay , ideal

- fabric for house walls , which , cool in summer , n warm in winter , is just now again e joying its former high repute . And in the wooded coun Of ties the March and Borderland of Wales , “ ” wh e r e bla ck- - whi t e half - t i m be r e d ho u s e s and , with the interstices of their wooden framing “ ” ﬁlled with wattle and daub , add so much

- beauty to the countryside , half timbered dove cotes ofgreat eleganceofform and often richly decorated may be seen . It is to this Welsh Border country that the pilgrim who would go in quest of dovecotes S hall forthwith be led . M C M R C E E R E U H A L , H FOR DS HI R E

C H A PTER FOU R H ER EFORD S H I RE

THE reader may quite possibly feel some surprise at ﬁnding himself called on to com mence a “ survey of our English dovecotes in a county which is both remote and little known . For this the author would perhaps venture to put forward grounds of personal predilection were he not provided with more satisfactory excuse . Herefordshire is not only rich in dovecotes of a great variety of age and

- form , but claims a further pre eminence by possessing an example which is one of the oldest and ﬁnest in England , and which can point , in proof of its antiquity , not only to its i ndi s u t architectural style , but to the quite p able date the builder graved upon its stone . It is to this most interesting of Herefordshire dovecotes that we will ﬁrst turn . More than one route off ers by which to reach the secluded and extensive parish Of

- Garway , lying on the south west border of the county ; but most to be recommended to the pedestrian , both for beauty of scenery and interest of association , is that which leads 43 BOOK O F DOVECOTES

s t a t i o n t w e lv e him from Pontrilas , miles south of Hereford ; follows the valley for about two miles to Kentchurch Court , where the adjoin ing churchdisputeswith Monnington - o n - Wye the claim to be the burial - pla ce o f Owen Glen d o w e r Gl ndw r ( y , Mr . Bradleytells us it should — be ) a Claimwhich it is to be feared hi st o r y ca n allow to neither place ; and climbs the stee p

S of - e m e r e u o n lope Kentchurchdeer park , to g p Of the breezy height Garway Hill , an elevation of twelve hundred feet . Here , on Clear days , the eye can wander from the Bristol Channel far up into Central Wales . Then , follow i n - gthe hill south , breast high in bracken , and with soundless steps upon the sheep - cropped

t u r f w e e , shall com presently to sunnyGarway

Rocks , and , by a winding road , with here and there a solitary farm at which to ask the way , Ch u rch whi ch arrive at last in sight of Garway , stands upon a slope above the brawling Mon

now , here the county boundary . The church itself might easily detain us I long . ts tower , standing at an angle to the

building , and connected with it onlybya short passage ; its curiously carved Chancel arch ; the 44 H EREFORD SH I RE early English arcade which screens the south chapel ; these , with still other features , bid us pause . But we must content ourselves with the knowledge that , originally a preceptory of S the Knights Templars , it passed , in or hortly 1 0 8 after 3 , the year in which disaster overtook that order , into the possession of the Hospi t alle rs . It is to the latter that we owe the grand old dovecote at the farm close by . f o ld ard It stands partly in the y , partly in a S loping ﬁeld . The door giving access to the

yard is a comparatively modern innovation ,

‘ the o nly o ri gi na lentrance being the one which

opens on the ﬁeld . The archway of this door “ ” way has two upright stones to form the key ;

below them , ﬁlling in the arch and resting on

t h e a mb- j heads of the doorway , is a tympanum

bearing an inscription . This , now barely leg

ible , was deciphered some eighty years ago by that learned and capable local antiquary

and historian , the Reverend john Webb . Dispensing with the abbreviations employed ’ by the dovecote s builder , and accepting the almost certain correctness of the italicised

words supplied by Mr . Webb from the con 4S BOOK O F DO VECOTES

text , we have the inscription as follows A n no D o mi n i mill e sim o t re ce nte sim o Vi c e si mo se xto f actum f uit i st ud co

a r tr i car um lumb r e pe f r a em R d . or In the year 1 3 2 6 this dovecote was built by brother Richard . And well and truly did this brother Richard carryout his work , with the result that it alone , Garwa h o u s e ofall domestic buildings of the y , survives to - day ; the Church and dovecote they are all that now remain . Not only is this now the case ; it has been so for centuries . 1 2 0 In a lease granted about 5 , while the ’ ” “ co wh e u s priest s Chamber , stable , , water ’ ’ o a ta e r u i n osa e t a o mill are all described as , — tor r a m pr ostr a ta wholly ruined and pro — strate on the ground the colu mba r i u m alone is spoken of as bone e t sufici e n ter r ep a r a tu m f n well and su ficie tly repaired . In the case of a Circular dovecote such as we admire here , this survival after otherbuild ings ofgreater size and more importancehave perished is perhaps not altogether difficult to be accounted for . It may well have owed its escape fromdestruction to the di f ficulty which 46 H EREFORDS H I RE would - be despoilers squatters eager for

- good building stone , and others of like kind would find in the selection ofa fitting point on m ake t he i r whichto firstattack . Ina neglected building of rectangular form decay would not be long in setting in at the junction of walls , at doorways and around windows and what the elements and time began , man could com

le t e . p But wherewill you strikeﬁrstat a round , windowless building , with but one strong and narrow doorway in a wall three feet ten inches thick? The additional fact that a dovecote would yield but a small store of stone as com pared with the long lofty walls of Cloister or refectory , is also to be borne in mind ; but it seems probable that the great Garway dove cote , like some others of its Class , owes its immunity from spoliation to its shape and A massive build . nd we are duly thankful such should be the case . Shortly before the clergyman already men t i o ne d published his account , the building had advanced some distance down the easy road to ruin , imperilled by a more insidious

- - and slow moving foe than any stone stealer . 4 7 BOO K O F DOVECOTES

A seedling oak , with a young ash for its com panion , had attained a goodly size . upon the summit of the walls ; the roots , descending towards the ground , were working deadly havoc in the masonry . But happily the land ’ lord s agent sawthe danger , and the trees have now been long removed . One crack thus opened in the wall is still seen on the right , above the door . And this is perhaps a ﬁtting moment to be seech all dovecote - owners not to suffer an excess of greenery upon the treasure they possess ; above all to set their faces against ivy , that most dangerous foe of masonry . To turn the dovecote into a green bower may be pic t u re s u e bu t q , means disaster in the end . More over the full architectural form , the frequent s e e n i f t h e beauty , of such buildings isnot y are

- smothered with a mass of leaves . A fruit tree trained against the wall will d o but little dam

‘ bre akbare s ace s age , and will amply serve to p ; nothing more should be allowed . The masonry at Garway is sandstone in i n rubble work , plastered outside , while the The i nt e r na l t e r i o r f ac i ngi s ofwrought ashlar. 48

HE R E FOR D S HIR E diameter is seventeen feet three inches ; the height from the ﬂoor, which was paved , to the h e S spring of t vaulting , ixteen feet . The interior presents manypoints of e xce p

t i o nal e . n int rest Windows are entirely lacki g , light and air being , like the former occupants , admitted through a circular opening two feet two inches in diameter placed in the middle of the vaulted roof. In the centre of the ﬂoor was a circular stone basin , six inches deep and

ﬁve feet in diameter . To this was connected a draintosupplywaterfromoutside , withanother Of f to draw excess .

- A bathing basin is a most unusual feature , i f n o t quite unique , in English dovecotes ; one would like to know if it was upon special order or h i s own initiative that brother Richard placed it here . He did not hold , apparently, t ho s e a u t ho ri t i e s i n with who , as we saw speak

ing of the Roman columbarium , disapproved

of a cold bath for sitting birds . n Look now at the nesting arra gements , which could hardly have been brought to n u mb greaterperfection . The e r o f the holes six hundred andsixty - six- hasbeensuggested 49 BOOK O F DOVECOTES to imply some mystic meaning , a point which

S hall be left untouched . They are arranged in

- twenty tiers of thirty three nests each , alight

- ing ledges being provided to alternate tiers . The holes are of that L S hape usually seen “ ” inthe best English dovecotes . The entrance to each is seven inches square , and the hole , after extending into the thickness of the wall a ll for seventeen inches , turns at a right angle ; the nests in one tier turn in the same direction , thosein the t i e r i m m e di a t e lyabove itand below it being reversed . This shape , seldom seen in

Scotland , afforded the birds greater seclusion and more space . The whole of the internal masonry work is of the most elaborate and ac cu rat e ly ﬁtting description . Moreover brother Richard did not limit his inscriptions to the date and statement carved above the door . just opposite the entrance ,

- fourteen nest tiers from the ﬂoor , he graved “ ” i lb rt u s i l e r t u s ? the name G e . Who was G b

We now ask in vain . Perhaps the superior of w ho the commandery , possibly a workman as sisted Richard at his task .

Some rather boastful and exulting symbols , H EREFORD S H I R E

too, he placed upon his walls . A graved cross

patee , overset and lying prostrate , typiﬁes the ’ Templars fall ; while to its left is seen the cross

let of the Hospitallers , placed upright . Some

crudely executed ﬁgures , possibly crescents , seem identical with those in London ’ s Temple

Church .

There is no potence here . The open centre

- tothe roof, thebathing basinon theﬂoor , would have necessitated special arrangements which the builder evidently did not care to make . This Garway dovecote is described with a minuteness which will not often be repeated in the book , but which is surely deservedbythe present example on account of its undoubted age , the excellence ofits very typical workman ship , the good state ofpreservation in which it remains , and the unusual provision of a bath

- ing basin .

- If Garway , for the dovecote hunter, be the boast of Herefordshire , Bosbury , lying four miles from Ledbury on the county ’ s eastern border , is its shame . At this village therestood , in the time of Bishop Ca n t i lu p e and o f hi s chap m lain and subsequent successor, Richard Swi 5 1 BOO K O F DOVECOTES

ﬁeld , one ofthe episcopal residences ofthe dio cese . Its church is one ofseveral in the county — inwhich the towerstands detached i n this i n stance almost certainly with a view to defence . A farmhouse on the site of a former Templar preceptory retains the name of Temple Court ; and at Old Court a gateway ofthe palace , with re a cider cellar , once the episcopal refectory, Bu t wha t d e s n t r m a i n s t h o ld d o v e mains . o o e i e 1 8 8 cote , wilfully destroyed in 4 . In a few cases only will dovecotes no longer surviving be spoken ofin this volume ; but that ofBosbury is particularly worthy o f e x e mpt i o n

R oll o the H ou seh ld from this rule . In the f o E x e nses o B i sho S w i n e ld p f p ﬁ , edited by Webb , we have a minutely detailed and extremely ’ n interesting accou t of the Bishop s itinerary ,

disbursements , etc . during a progress through his diocese in the autumn and winter months

1 2 8 - 0 of 9 9 . Mention is there made of pigeons being taken— and paid for— from the dovecote at Bosburyon three successive days duringthe S wi n ﬁld re stay of e and his suite . Taking this ’ Mr cord , together with . Webb s statement that

the dovecote , which he had seen , resembled 5 2 H ER EFO RDSH I RE

that at Garway , there can be little doubt that , but foranactofunpardonable vandalism , Here f o rd shi re would still possess a dovecote at the very least thirty or forty years older than the one we have just seen . S o f o rn a Great ize and age , solidity , absence — ment , simplicity of form such are the leading features of the ﬁrst Herefordshire dovecote viewed . For an entire contrast let us seek the ’ village of King s Pyon , or rather a secluded u o tlying farm in that parish ; the Butt House , “ ” o r B u t t as - , lyingsome seven miles north west of Hereford , in a rich grazing district where

- - largeherdsofthered coated , white faced cattle ofthe county feed in the deep pastures , backed by hills and woods . The place can well be reached by going by road to Canon Pyon and then turning to the left ; or it is pleasant to alight at Credenhill , the ﬁrst station on the

Hayand Brecon line ; pass through the village , underneath the hill on which is Credenhill Old Camp ; inquire for Brinsop , cross the and

- f little travelled Here ord to Weobley road , and take the shady lane which leads to Wo rm e sle y

Grange . There , turning to the right , we cross 5 3 BO OK O F DOVECOTE S a ﬁeld or two and see the Butt House high upon a bank . The dovecote stands outside a yard immediatelybehind the dwelling , in aspot which makes it a good picture for the artist and photographer .

It stands , backed by the wooded hill beyond the ﬁeld just crossed , a perfect specimen in ” miniature of that exquisite black - and - white half- timbered architecture which is one of the chief beauties of the Welsh Border district . The upper portion has a slight overhang ; the walls are ornamented with a diamond pattern , and the beams and panels richlycarved . On the north side 13 the date 1 6 3 2 with the initials

K . S , tanding for the names of George and G . E . a rv r Elizabeth K e . As to the very probable de signer o f this lovely little building there will later on be more to say .

There are three stories , only the upper one

- being ﬁtted with nest holes . It has been called the Falconry , and the suggestion made that the middle chamber of the three was intended to be occupied by hawks . It seems a somewhat sinister arrangement , that of placing hawks 5 4

BOO K O F DOVECOTES

has one peculiarity which calls for mention . Its

I 6 ho u s e i t s e lf be i n I 6 date is 7 3 , that on the g 74 . This might be taken as mere careless error ; L u nt le but the case of y does not stand alone , therebeingother i ns t a n c e s o f s u ch discrepancy of date . The following explanation may per haps be suggested as acceptable . It is possible thata man about to build hi m s e lf a ho u s e might prudently reﬂect that the work would take several months , even a year or more , while the erection of a dovecote might be easily acco m li sh e d p in the course of a few weeks . A large portion ofhis food supply would necessarily be Of home production ; and he might very well decide to get the dovecote ready in advance , so that its occupants could settle down in their new home before he needed them . The main road through Canon Pyon will in t i m e bri n a d e li h t f u l g us to Eardisland , g village on t he little river Arrow ; here are some of the

- best half timbered houses in the district , a not S t a i ck Ho us e i m m e di ableexample being the , f ately at the east end O Arrow Bridge . Across the stream , in a farmyard beside the water , stands a dovecote differing much in style from 5 6

HEREFO RDS H I RE

those yet seen .

- It is a square brick building , two storied ,

- with wallstwentyfeetin length . Itsfour gabled ro o f i s topped by a lantern ofthe same form , on the crown of which is a weather- vane in the shape of a ﬁsh— appropriate for a building on ’ - n the bank ofso well known an a gler s stream .

The lower chamber is supplied with windows ,

- nest holes being found only in the loft above . Thisdovecote isparticularlycharmi ng from the beauty of its situation and the mellow colour of its old brick walls . The ﬁsh which forms its weather - vane re minds u s of the great diversity displayed by these useful terminals . The arrow and the cock are both comparatively rare . A dragon ,

- o f - - shieldwithcoat arms , two headedeagle , fox , and claw , are known . In the absence of a vane the lantern is frequently surmounted by a pole and ball . o f The shape the Eardisland dovecote , and both shape and size in the Butt House speci men , preclude the probability of their contain “ ” o s si bi li t i t ing a potence ; p y is not safe to say , for potences are sometimes found in square 5 7 BOOK O F D OVECOTES

English dovecotes , still more frequently in

Scottish specimens . We shall , however , be justiﬁed , and not disappointed , in looking for one in the example next upon our list ; that at ’ S hro Richard s Castle , a village close to the p shireborder and best reached from Wooff erton junction , on the Hereford and Shrewsbury u line . The westernmost and least freq ented of the two roads running between Leominster be and Ludlow must be crossed , a turn uphill

ing taken at the village inn . Nearly at the top of the hill we should come

to the church , with yet another of Hereford ’ shire s detached towers ; and then , still higher , ﬁnd the castle after which the place is named ;

- a wooded mound , knee deep in nettles , over S grown with brambles , but till showing traces

of a ditch and walls . This Border fortress was

erected by , and took its name from , Richard

Fitz Scrob , a Norman of the days of Edward

the Confessor ; and it shares with Ewyas , far in

- the south west of the county , the distinction

- of being a pre Conquest stronghold . But to discover the dovecote we need climb

the hill as far as neither church nor castle . On 5 8

BOOK OF DOVECOTES

the Wye , we shall wind round the wooded height of Dinmore Hill ; pass one of Here ’ d hi re s - f o r s ﬁnest country houses , Hampton Court ; and presently arrive at Bodenham and ’ - its bridge . Here , hardly a stone s throw from

r i v e r s t an d s the , a dovecote built ofbrick , octa gonal in shape . This , too , is an attractive little — i n building a farmhouse garden , and beside a

ﬂowing stream .

At Mordiford , four miles east of Hereford ,

the waters of the Lugg join those of Wye .

The village , one of the most charming in the

- county , lies upon our route to day ; for on the

S u f t o n slope behind it is Old , where there is a

- dovecote which , although brick faced , is built — a of stone . It is circular , but rather unusual — feature is topped byan octagonal lantern . On

- - the weather vane , a double headed eagle , are I M 1 6 the initials . . , with the date 7 4; the cote

itself is very obviously ofgreater age . There

- is nopotence , and the nest holes are found only

in the upper part .

Away to the east , some distance behind

Mordiford , let us seek out Much Marcle , where , H e lle ns at the house called , once the home of 6 0 H E R EFO R D S H I R E a well - known Herefordshirea uthority on fruit

- growing and cider making , is an octagonal bri c kd o v e c o t e , largelyadapted tomodern uses .

- There are some nest holes left . Its octagonal lantern carries a ﬂag as weather - vane ; on it

W. 1 . are the initials E . , with the date 7 5 3 The buildi ng itself is dated in large letters 1 6 4 1

W . with the initials , whose owners were F . M . a n d Ffoulkes Margaret Walwyn . It seems as though the county ’ s rivers might be taken as our guides . The Wye would , after

many windings , bring us down to Ross not OS S Bo lli t re e far from R is Weston , where , at — o r i n Dairy Farm , there is was , for recent formation has proved unobtainable— a dove cote which presents a t least one interesting

feature . It is a rectangular stone building , and at each corner was placed a guard against re attacks from rats , in a form which , though comme nded by the early eighteenth century ’ m a n s D ti n r S or ts i c o a . p y , is seldom seen The safeguard was an iron angle - plate on which a

climbing animal would slip andfall . Thewriter

of the work just mentioned , adds , that they 6 1 BOOK O F DOVECOT ES sho u ld fall on iron spikes placed upright in the ground ; but at the Dairy Farm these spikes , if ever they existed , have now disappeared ; removed , quite possibly , by some humane pro ri e t o r p of pigeons , who , while anxious to pro t e ct hi s u n wi lli n t o birds , was yet g pushmatters to extremes against the rats . In giving to the dovecotes ofthis county all the space that can be spared , we have but skimmed the cream , and that with a light hand . Of more than seventy or eighty still surviving in the county , many others well deserve to be recorded , though passed over here . The brief est mention must be made , however , of the specimen at Cowarne Court , near Bromyard .

- This , although now covered by a cone shaped roof of gentle slope , exhibits clear internal evidence of having once been vaulted like the t o o are Garway specimen . Its walls , , three feet nine inches thick , good proof of ripe old age .

At Foxley, a ﬁne house in Yazor parish , on the broad road running west from Hereford to

re m na n t o f t h e f o rm e r Hay , is the sole mansion a d o v e co t e ofredbrick , which, while presenting few other features ofinterest , is the only Here 6 2 H EREFO RDS H I RE f o rd s hi re example to be hexagonal , a form which we shall rarely ﬁnd in any part .

Reluctantly, and conscious that we leave full ’ many a gem behind , we cross the county s northern border into Shropshire , a land rich in ancient houses , wooded hills and charming streams . OLD SU FTON E R E OR S R E , H F D HI C H A PTER FI VE S H R O P S H I RE

BOOK O F DO VECOTES

r che e r f o , andpayshis bill and goes hiswaywith little further thought for house or host . And indeed the visitor whose luck may bring him to Whitehall , though he may give but little thought to either Richard Prince or present host , is hardly likely altogether to neglect the F o r h e house . will take his ease amid ideal sur roundings ; theperfection ofElizabethanarchi

u tect re , ﬁlled internallywith furniture and tap e st ri e s and pictures , all in keepingwith the set ting they adorn . In the old garden stands the dovecote , one of the most interesting that

Shropshire owns . Within the last century it has indeed been shorn of the full charm of its former surround ings ; for a ﬁne group o f la rch e s that stood near it , said to have been the earliest planted in the county , has now disappeared . Gone , too , the

rand o ld - t re e w i th t ru nk t h at g walnut , measured sixteen feet in girth , and boughs that spread S f o r their hade twenty yards around . We will not grudge them ; for the dovecote still adorns

- the junction of two tile topped garden walls . ? And where , indeed , could it be better placed

Has not Trigg included dovecotes , and most 6 8 S H RO PS H I RE

“ ” ? rightly , among garden ornaments

Thebuildingisofbrick , octagonal inside are some ﬁve hundred nests , with potence and its ladder still in good repair . The tiled roof, also octagonal , is crowned by a high cupola , and small rectangular windows are set high in the walls . Between these windows and the eaves we ﬁnd a feature which , while a welcome orna ment , forms subject of discussion and dispute ; a very beautiful arched corbel - table made in moulded brick . The dovecote is generally referred to the m a nsi o n whi ch same period as the , was built by theaforesaid Richard Prince , betweentheyears

I 8 1 8 2 ran e be lo n 5 7 and 5 , onthesiteofthe g g g di s s o lv e d i n I ingtothe Benedictine abbey , 5 3 9.

The Abbey Church , as has been said , still stands , and the refectory pulpit maybe seen in an adjacent yard . It has been urged by archi t e ct u ra lexperts that a corbel - table such as this Of was an unusual feature Elizabethan times , and one unlikelyto have been produced by a ny architect employed by Prince . t hi s f e at u re A possibleexplanationof , a great

- addition to the beauty of the pigeon house , is 6 9 BOOK O F DOVECOTES to be found byan examination ofthe lower por tion of the walls and of the foundations upon which they stand . These are of stone and are octagonal . It seems possible , therefore , that the monksofthe A bbe yhad an octagonal dove cote o f stone on this same spot ; that Richard ’ u Prince s builder p lled it down , and rebuilt it in brick , being careful to reproduce a former

- corbel table . The point is one on which we may well hesitate to dogmatise , preferring to fall back upon the placid prudence of George ’ “ Old L e i su r e Eliot s , happy in his inability to Of t hi n s knowthecauses g , preferring thethings ” t he m s e lv e s A n d c e rt a i nl be t w e e n . y enjoyment of this corbel - table and a learned explanation of its presence few would hesitate to make their choice . The lower portion of the wall to which the d o v e co t e o i n s i s m a n o ld j old , with y bricks built ’ i nto t h e u e r a rt Clo s e b i s t he m o n ks barn pp p . y , much modernised , but happily still covered by its ancient roof of stone . Only some few degrees less Charming than the Whitehall dovecote is the excellent ex be f o u nd ample to at Henley Hall , near Ludlow , 7 0 S H RO PS H I R E lying south of Shrewsbury by some twenty miles . It is ofabout the same period as that at It lacks Whitehall , or perhaps somewhat later .

- the corbel table , and is rather broader in pro portion toitsheight ; but thewide - eavedlantern h a s a v e r le as i n e f f e c t yp g ; andtheroof, although its tiles are comparativelymodern , isagreeably broken by four dormer windows , one in each alternate section of the octagon . The length of each of the eight walls is ten feet ; height to the eaves about ﬁfteen . o t e nc e i n s i d e The p is ingoodworking order , while of the nests , nearly six hundred in num ber , some are still occupied by pigeons , and the

- building has a cheerful , thriving , well kept air . With regard to the nests it is interesting to note that the inner arm of the L turns to the left in every tier ; a rather unusual variation

from the more general practice bywhich , when

the direction does not change with each tier ,

the turn is to the right . Such are the little differences for which the dovecote - lover early

learns to look . be The doorway is quite noticeably narrow , e ing two feet two inch s wide , though nearly 7 1 BOO K O F D OVECOTES

ﬁve feet high ; whilefor a brick dovecote o f t hi s period the walls are unusually thick— thirty four inches . S Similar , both in hape and material , to those already described is the dovecote standing in a ﬁeld at Chetwynd House , near Newport . Its history , prior to the present ownership , which I 80 8 . dates from , remains a blank It is smaller than the one at Henley Hall , the total wall length being nomore than sixtyfeet . The roof, its tiling modern , has a lantern with glass win

- dows , and a weather vane above ; there is also a trap for catching the birds . The potence still

- L exists , and the six hundred nest holes are re shaped . The building is not only in good pair , but is still applied to its original purpose . A dovecote existeduntil c o mp ara t i v e lylat e l y in the park at Tong Castle , but was pulled “ ” down on account of its dangerous condition ; thoughwhethertheparkwasa public thorough fare and the safety of wayfarers affected , and what insurmountable difﬁculties rendered its repair and preservation impossible , are points n on which no information can be given . I volved in s i m i lar d arkn e ss are the causeswhich 7 2 W H IT E H L S H R E VVS BU R Y AL ,

5 2 . F a ce 1 . 7

BOOK O F DOVECOTES there are far older dovecotes to be found in Shropshire ; and in quest of one of these we maybetake ourselvesto the most pleasant gar o f den the White House , Aston Munslow , a place lying north - east of that important local junction , Craven Arms . TheWhite House dovecote is a round stone building , very obviouslyof Norman date ; fairly o f s e v e n t - ﬁv e large , with a circumference y feet and a height to the eaves of ﬁfteen feet . One of its points Of gre a t e s t interest is the thickness — ofthe walls four feet , while those at Garway , it will be recalled , are but three feet ten inches .

The entrance is a very narrow one .

There is no potence now remaining , but we can still see the socket - hole in which the lower end was placed ; also a remnant of the beam

- u itself. The nest holes , n mbering about ﬁve

L - a s t r i n - hundred , are shaped . Thereis g course placed unusually low down — some two feet only from the ground . ’ Unhappily , during the owner s temporary absence from the property , the rooffell in ; but some of t he stone tiles which covered it have beenpreserved , togetherwith thewooden pegs 7 4 S H RO PS H I RE

that held them in their place . These tiles were . ofa small size on the upper portion of the roof, becoming larger towards the eaves . t he The fall of roof was , unfortunately , fol lowed bydisaster to a s e c t i o n ofthe walls them selves ; a n accident not veryfrequent in a dove o f cote this shape and massive build , which usually proves capable of standing not a little buffeting from time and weather without giv ing way . It would be a very serious loss to Shropshire i f t h i s dovecotewere allowed todis appear , since , judging from the thickness of its walls and other signs , it can be little later in its date than that at Garway . But happily the owner o f Whi t e House is now the occupier also , keen to Check all chance of further harm . n Not differi g greatly in regard to style , nor probably in age , is the ﬁne dovecote standing in the grounds of one of the most charming of old Shropshire mansions , Shipton Hall , in the W Much enlock district . Shipton itself, once a M t t o n s seat ofthe y , isa ﬁne Elizabethan house , — — restored and well restored i n George the ’ Second s reign . Disaster has been busy with the dovecote 7 5 BOOK OF DOVECOTES

here . The roof, which bore a cupola , has fallen d— in . The walls still stan four feet in thick ness , with a doorway which , though wide , is f little more than four eet high . I nside is a potence , and , still more inter

- esting , about four hundred nest holes , thirteen r ou nde d inches deep , and at the back , a form

but seldom seen . Surely such shape , though

doubtless giving extra trouble to the builder ,

meant additional comfort to the birds . These rounded nests alone would be enough to date

d - this ovecote from a long past day , when time and troublewere nothi ng as comparedwith the

result desired . Of Also in this district , in the garden the a rectory at Harley , is square brick dovecote , from the loft of which the nests have been re

- moved . A trap door in the roof of the lower

story gives access to this loft , the ascent hav ing formerly been made by pegs driven into

the wall as a foothold . The little building is of

no great antiquity or importance , but a dove i n cote a garden is not willingly passed by .

At Bourton Hall , another house of interest

near Wenlock , is a solidly built square dove 7 6

BOO K O F DOVECOTES

een feet square and over thirty feet in height . I t was at one time even higher , having a tiled roof and loft . The present rooﬁng material is — —hor r i bi le di cta corrugated iron , surely the last indignity that such a bu i ldi ngca n be called upon to bear . The walls are three feet thick , the doorway noticeably small . About one thou

- sand nest holes still remain , rising from the ground level to the roof . At Coalport and Broseleywe are getting into the brick and tile Of S h ro shi re making district p , and it is there fore more interesting than surprising to see that the bricks used for the nests were speci ally moulded for the purpose . L a c s o S h ro As Herefordshire at Mansel y, p shire in more thanone instance exhibits acco m m o d a t i o n for pigeons fashioned in the fabric of

- the dwelling house itself. Thisis so at Tickler ton Hall , a house built near Much Wenlock in I the reign of Charles . ; where , in addition to

- a square dovecote , there are pigeon holes in

- one of the house walls . At the Woodhouse , a small dwelling of jacobean period in Wyke , a dovecote exists in the attic gable . Finally , at

Hungerford , lying between Ludlow and Mun 7 8 S H RO PS H I RE

slow , there is a third instance of this kind . In a stone house ofGeorgian date two wings pro ‘je c t i ng at the rear are linked together by an overhanging roof which forms a covered bal

cony , and is believed intended as a shelter for

these birds . It is impossible to look upon pro vision of this kind without an understanding of the great importance formerly attached to

- pigeons as a source of food supply . OR CE S E R S R E D OR MSTON E , W T HI

E OR CE S E R S R E ODDINGL Y , W T HI C H APTER SIX WO RCESTER AND WA RWI CK

IN t he number , interest , and beautyofits dove cotes the county of Worcester may be ﬁt ly w grouped ith the two already described . With

Herefordshire , especially , it presents many interesting parallels . Statistics of Hereford shire dovecotes , compiled some thirty years ago , showed the total number then existing to

- be seventy four, while more than thirty had I been demolished or allowed to go to ruin . n

Worcestershire there were , ﬁfteen years later ,

- ninety three dovecotes , while twenty others ,

di s a known to have existed formerly , had p are d pe . In one point Worcestershire falls very far behind the sister county ; as compared ’ with He re f o rds hi re s twenty - one octagonal ex amples , she has only one to show . Of circular dovecotes Worcestershire has none of an age certainly equal to , far less ex ce e di n g, that at Garway ; but she possesses one ofgreater size . This , the largest in the county , stands in a ﬁeld at South Littleton , and is no

- less than eighty three feet in circumference . 8 3 BOOK O F DOVECOTES I t is built of local lias stone , much mixed with

- rubble , and there are remains ofrough cast on

the outer surface of the walls . It is lighted by

- a very small window slit ; and the roof, cover ed with stone slabs and now reported as in bad

repair , is crowned by a small , square , four l pil ared cupola . The walls are about two feet

thick , the doorway of fair size . The want of thickness in the walls is an argument against the age of this specimen being anything ap ro achi n p g that of Garway , for it is a sound general rule that the thicker the walls the

older the dovecote .

Inside are eighteen tiers of nests , with an alighting - ledge to everysecond tier ; two more tiers are now almost hidden by the raising of

- the earthen ﬂoor. The number of nest holes n is about six hundred and ﬁfty . The pote ce ,

though not nowin working order , still remains ,

bearing one arm .

Littleton , not content with the possession

of the largest dovecote in the county , once

established pigeons in the church . Here , ex tracted from the churchwardens ’ accounts of

the parish , are particulars concerning the ar 84

BOOK OF DOVECOTES

a former monk of Evesham , who was vicar of Littleton throughout the reigns of Edward

and Mary , and for some time after the acces

sion of Elizabeth , that he should provide the

books , receiving in return the proﬁt accruing

from the steeplepigeons . It was a compromise which relieved the Li t t le t o n i a ns from imme diate embarrassment , and doubtless proved of ultimate proﬁt to their vicar . To other cases u where pigeons were ho sed in the tower, and o th e r art s o f c hu rch e s even in p , furtherallusion will be made .

Higher in proportion to its size , with much thicker walls and a general appearance of greater antiquity than the Littleton dovecote , is the circular example at Comberton , near I Pershore . t is about seventy feet in circum ference , and the walls are three feet seven inches thick . Built of grey stone , it is sup ported by three stagedbuttresses , and entered

- by a small round headed doorway . The pot ence , if once present , has now disappeared ; but nest - holes to the number of more than ﬁv e r e m a i n so m e hundred , being still occupied by pigeons . The roof is crowned by a small 8 6 WORCESTER

open cupola , and the whole building is in good repair . Exceeding both these dovecotes in respect of massiveness of walls are the two found re s e ct i v e l p y at Wick , near Pershore , and at the

Manor House , Cleeve Prior . That at Wick , where the walls have a thickness of four feet ,

- ﬁv e isseventy feet round , and holds some thir I t teen hundred nests . is constructed of a

- greyish yellow stone , which has once been covered with plaster; stands upon sloping ground , is supported by three buttresses , and has a single dormer window in the roof . The potence is in place . m o re s oli d co ns t ru ct i o n hav i n Ofstill , gwalls four feet six inches thick , is the Cleeve Prior o t e n ce i s doveco te . The p absent ; and although the building is S ixty feet in circumference it only contains four hundred and ﬁfty nests . These are provided with alighting - ledges at — every third tier a not uncommon arrange ment . The dovecote is in good repair , and is , i moreover , still applied to its or ginal use . — Oneofthemost charming perhaps , indeed , — the most Charming o f all Worcestershire 8 7 BOOK OF DOVECOTES dovecotes is the d e light f u lbu i ldi ngto be found at Kyre Park , Kyre Magna . Beautiful in itself, its attractions are enhanced by beauty of situ ation ; it stands in close proximity to a ﬁne

- buttressed tithe barn , with good crow stepped

- I n s i d e t h e gable ends . , potence and its ladder are in place , and the ﬁvehundred nests are still in excellent repair . Externallythe dovecote is singularly a t t rac tive . The doorway is slightly arched , and a few feet below the eaves a string - course e n circles the walls . The roof is crowned by a

- four gabled open cupola on slender pillars , and its slope is broken by three dormer win

dows , a picturesque grouping already seen at ’ Richard s Castle , Herefordshire . None will regret the timeor trouble spent in visiting this

charming specimen . Ofsquare pigeon - houses in Worcestershire

one may be ﬁrst mentioned which , though not

otherwise particularly attractive , deserves our notice by the rare appearance of a potence in

an English building of this shape . This is the

- brick built dovecote at Elmley Lovett , where alighting - ledges are provided to each tier of 8 8

BOOK O F DOVECOTES

cote twenty - one feet square has some eight

- hundred nests , brick built , with an alighting

ledgeforevery tier . The roofhasbeenrepaired .

h - Offenham Court , wit its pigeon housetwenty

- feet square , four gabled , and lighted by four

windows , is of interest as standing on the site once occupied by the sanatorium ofthe Abbey

of Evesham , in which house the last of a long

f a b o t s line o b died . In a co u n t y so well wooded as Worcester we sh allﬁn d withoutsurprise numerousdovecotes into the construction of which timber enters to “ a large extent . Some are the genuine black

and white , others have timber framing , with “ ” ﬁlli n - i n brick g . Of the latter kind was for merly the very interesting example at the

Manor Farm , Cropthorne ; interesting here as beingofthat form very common in Scotland but rare in England— a house of two compart

- ments . The house is twenty eight feet six inches long , by ﬁfteen feet ten inches broad .

Two sides are built in part of timber , but the other two are now ofbrick . The two compart ments contain a total of ﬁve hundred and ten

nests . The whole is roofed with tiles ; the lan 90 WO RCESTER terns that give light to each division are in

somewhat bad repair . Two dovecotes stand in the garden of Bag D o rm st o n e End Farm , , each holding between

ﬁve hundred and six hundred nests . One ,

slightly the smaller of the two , has a four

gabled roof and four windows , and bears the

- w date 1 4 1 3 upon some lead work . A some hat

similar dovecote occurs at the Moat Farm , in

- the same parish ; it also is four gabled , and is

built on a stone foundation . The comparativelysmall dovecote at Manor “ House Farm , Broughton Hackett , is of black ”

and white structure on a foundation of stone .

It is of rather special interest ; for , in spite of — — itssmall size S ixteen byfourteen feet i t con

tains as many as twelve hundred nests . These

are of wood , arranged with great economy of

space . Less than half this accommodation is available in the much largerbuilding at Staun ton Court ; a dovecote twenty - six feet by

- twenty one , with walls two feet six inches

thick . It is hardly probable that this is the dovecote alluded to in the Red Book of Ex

d e chequer, where it is noted that Peter g 9 1 BOOK OF DOVECOTES

“ 1 2 8 8 i Staunton , who died in , held a cap tal messuage and garden , a dovecot , three water mills , two groves ofeight acres in all , ten acres ” 2 I 6 ofmeadow , and acres of arable land . We have it on the authority ofthe Evesham R a nd ul h Chronicles that Abbot p , whose ten o f o f ﬁc e 1 2 1 I 2 2 ure dated from 4 to 9, brought hi s la n ds about , among other improvementson , the erection of dovecotes at Offenham , Ham Wi ckha m t o n a nd Om bre s le stone , p , y. At Off enham there still is , attached to other build ings , a very small dovecote , nine feet by ten ; it is much out ofrepair , the timber framing being

ﬁlled in with mixed brick and lath and plaster . But this was certainly not that which Abbot R a nd u lph built ; and the same may be said of Ha wf o rd the far more attractive specimen at , Ombre s le y, built upon a stone foundation ,

- seventeen feet square , four gabled , and with an open lantern in the roof . The lower part has

- been converted tothepurposeofa coach house , and nest - holes remain on two sides only ofthe

upper ﬂoor . To the dilapidated dovecote at

Oddingley , still containing six hundred nests , is attached the sinister storyofits having form 92

B O OK OF DOVECOTES with haste .

Leicester , indeed , though not without its dovecotes , does not seem particularly rich in

- o n - them . One will be found at Houghton the

Hill . It is a square brick building , twenty feet b in length , , y sixteen feet six inches wide ; gabled , andwitha slated roof. The verymoder ate thickness o f the walls prepares us for the knowledge that its age does not exceed two 1 1 6 centuries , it having been erected in 7 .

- There are about onethousand L shaped nests . I n a ﬁeld at Aston Flamville is a square d o v e co t e o f brick the earlyeighteenth century , the date being 1 7 1 5 . The length of wall is

L - - eighteen feet , and the shaped nest holes number eight hundred . I n W a rwi ckshi r e there falls tobe noticedthe not very common instance of accommodation — forpigeonsbeing p ro v i d e d i n a c a st le the four t e e n t h - century fortress of Maxstoke , where a chamber over the gate - house has been partly

ﬁtted up with nests . A reliable architectural authority , by whom this castle hasbeen recent l d e s cr i be d y , isofopinion that thearrangement was carried out some time in the sixteenth 94 WARWI CK

century . At the well - known house of Compton Wyn yates an octagonal dovecote stands in an orch ard . It is of brick , with stone corners ; has a

- ﬁv e height of thirty feet , a diameter of eight een , and the very moderate wall thickness of I one foot ten inches . nside are some six hund

- red L shapednests . The potence was removed some time ago . We shall probably be right in 1 assigning this dovecote to a date about 6 0 0 . There is a ﬁne c i rc ular d o v e co t e ofvery con “ s i d e rable age standing at haunted Hi llbo ro

a hamlet in the parish of Temple Grafton , not

- o n - far from Stratford Avon . Of this example particulars are unavailable ; bu t fortunately it is otherwise with the very i nt e r e s t lngd o v e co t e

at Kinwarton , near Alcester , a building on the ’ ﬁsh - rector s glebe . It is , with ponds , the only survivingrelicof a f o rm e r moatedgrangewhich

belonged to the abbey of Evesham . Th e d o v e co t e , solidlyconstructed ofstone in

rather thin layers , plastered externally , has an f e e t t wo internal diameter ofseventeen inches ,

a height to the eaves of ﬁfteen feet , and a wall o f t h re e thickness feet seven inches . The roof, 95 BOOK O F DOVECOTES

surmounted by a lantern , is tiled , and the sup porting beams and rafters are in themselves a s i n le worth careful inspection . There is g dor

mer window . The potence is still in place , only one or two Of rungs its ladder being missing . The nest o v e r ﬁv e holes , numbering hundred , are plain oblong recesses , varying a good deal in depth .

The doorway is particularly good . Its ex

treme height , to the point of the small ogee

arch , is three feet nine inches ; four inches less

to the spring ofthe arch . The width is just two

feet . The building , which is excellently cared

for , cannot be much , ifat all later than the four t e e n t h century .

C H APTER SEVEN

NO RT H AM PTON , A N D BUCKI NG H AM , H UNTINGDON

BOOK O F D OVECOTES

- ﬁv - thirty e . Like similar pigeon houses of this — shape in Scotland , where , however , they are — mostly Covered by a lean - to roof the build ing is divided into two compartments of equal

- size , the party wall being carried through the roof, which is of CollyWeston slabs . Each sec tion of the roof has a small lantern to give e n trance to the pigeons , furnishedwith alighting ledges facing south and north .

The walls , oflocal limestone , have a marked ” S IO i n sli ht l i n w a rd s t h e r i s e batter p g g y as y .

On three sides they are blank , being broken on the south side only by a heavilybarred window giving light to each compartment , with a door to each . The doorways are noticeably small ; three feet four inches high , and two feet wide . The doors themselves are almost ce rt a i nly o ri i nal f o u r i nche s g , being made ofsolid oak thick . o f In the middle the south wall , between the “ windows , astoneslabbears the name Maurice ” Tresham in raised lettering . Above , at the end of the table - course over the dividing - wall between the two compartments , is the device of the Tresham family , a triple trefoil . This is o n a st o ne repeated on the northside , and again I OO NO RT H AM PTON

which caps the ridge . Such is the onlyattempt at ornament on this d o v e co t e a n d great , the buildingwouldpresent s Om e wh a t a bare and forbidding appearance , had not its old stones weathered ” to a richly variegated hue , largely due to the growth of

- many coloured lichens . Each of the two compartments has a cco m m o d at i o n for two thousand pairs ofbirds . The nests are empty now; but in the spring and summer wild bees make their nests in inter s t i c e s in the walls ; while daff odils and snow drops , springing here and there about the Old meadow , tell of the manor garden that has passed away . ’ Thedovecote sbuilderwas , therecan belittle Tr e s ha m s doubt , the ﬁrst of several Maurice known to have existed in the family . He was born in I 5 3 0 and came intotheestatewhen only Old eight years .

The village of Harleston , four miles distant

r f om Northampton on the Rugby road , offers a dovecote very different from the Newton specimen , alike in situation , shape , and size .

The village itself is delightful , with its houses 1 0 1 BOOK OF DOVECOTES

built of local sandstone , roofed with thatch or

tiles; the dovecote , far from standing lonely

and deserted in a meadow , peeps upon us from

behind a garden wall . It is a round building oflocal sand and iron

- stone , in some measure ivy grown . The roof,

- renewed three quarters of a century ago , is of

- thewell known local CollyWestonslates , and is topped by an octagonal lantern and a weather “ - vane . The wall is set back half way up , with a good string - co u rse ; whi le a bro ad t a ble - course

appears immediately below the eaves . The

walls , ﬁfteen feet high , are three feet thick .

Entrance is by a doorway four feet high , two

feet one inch in breadth . Internally the build ing is divided into two stories by a modern

ﬂoor , and holds about four hundred nests , now

long disused .

The thickness of the walls , the small size of

the doorway , are good signs of age ; but it is a somewhat d oubtful tradition which dates this 1 20 interestingstructure to 3 , the year in which

the parish church was rebuilt . More probably it has existed since the ﬁrst quarter of the ﬁf t e e nt h century . 1 0 2

BOOK O F D O VECOTES

into disuse , and it was desired to employ it as a

- stable , cart shed , or the like ; so that a low and be narrowdoorwayhas nowoftendisappeared , o f m o d e rn ing swallowed up in one size . In the

same way the potence , useful when employed

u for its due p rpose , was found later to be in the O wayofcartsorcattle , andhasconsequently ften

been cast out . Still occupied by pigeons is the dovecote at

Denton , a village sixmiles from Northampton ,

on the Bedfordroad . It is oflimestone and cir “ ” cu lar - ; there are three set backs to the walls , the uppermost alone being provided with a

- u la d a t string course . Theroofand its c p o e from

the middle ofthe last century , but the building a l is much older . The doorway on the south is

most square , three feet six inches high , three i n inches less breadth .

Isham , a village lying between Welling

borough and Kettering , possesses an interest

- re ct a n u ing seventeenth century dovecote , g

lar in shape , and having its massive walls built “ ” with a slight batter . The heavy door , thickly

studded with nails , is worth noting , and the

whole building is maintained in good repair . 1 0 4

BOOK O F DOVECOTES

rises a curved piece oftimber, on which is sup ported a circle ofwood to which the rafters are

ﬁxed .

The potence is still in complete order . The massive upright post , six inches by four in section , is pivoted in a wooden block in the ﬂoor and to the cross - beams which support the

- roof. It carries a sixteen rung ladder , which is strengthened by diagonal struts . But it is the construction of the nests which presents the chiefinternal feature ofthis dove cote . Twofeet above theﬂoor thewalls are cor

S i x . belled , a shelf inches wide being formed

e r e ndi c u la r slabs From thisshelfrise p p ofwood ,

ﬁxed to the wall at distances nine inches apart .

Similar slabs rise from the ﬂoor, in front of those upon the shelf. These uprights are con n e ct e d by round wooden pegs , placed horizon tally , and long enough to project beyond the front row . Upon these pegs ﬂat boards are laid

- ﬂ o o rs to form the nest , with upright boards to serve as the dividingwalls . Thewholearrange mentwasthencoveredwithsomekind o f m o r t a r o r c e m e n t a le d e f o r m e d i n f ro nt o f , g being every tier . Such an arrangement as here seen is most 1 0 6 NO RT H AM PTON

u unusual , possibly uniq e .

At Burton Latimer , three miles from Ketter

- ing , is a plain but well built dovecote , almost identical in size and general form with that at

Isham . It offers no feature of special interest ; and theexplorerwill dowell toturn hissteps to wards Dallington , a village but a little distance R u b ro ad from Northampton , on the g y . Here , in the grounds of Dallington House , upon the bank of a small stream , and reached through a

ﬁne avenue of elms and chestnuts , he will ﬁnd one of the“ few octagonal dovecotes which the u D co nty offers . allington House , it should be I 2 0 noted , was built about 7 by Sir joseph jekyll , Master of the Rolls , on the site of a manor - housewhichwas once the home of Lord R a n s f o rd Chief justice y . The dovecote was most probably erected at the same time as the

present mansion .

It is asomewhatornate , yetmassive building ,

- covered by an eight sided ogee roof, the whole

crowned by an octagonal lantern . This lantern

- is lead covered , the angles of the roof of Colly

- Weston slabs being likewise lead protected .

The walls , two feet three inches thick , are of 1 0 7 BOOK OF DOVECOTES

- worked ashlar, with the corner stones of rustic work . The door , sixfeet in height , but lessthan three feet wide , has evidently been enlarged ; and two out of three windows are certainly m mode . The house , containing over thirteen

- hundrednest holes , is nowempty , andthe holes by which the birds once entered have been closed .

Finally , a rather interesting dovecote is to A be seen at Mears Ashby , or shby Mares , a pleasant village about eight miles from N o r t ham t o n p , on the Wellingborough road . It stands upon a sloping bank i mmediately to the east of the ﬁne old Elizabethan hall , a building — ontheporch a n d le a d e n water pipesofwhich ap 1 6 pears the date 3 7 .

The dovecote is rectangular , with slightly ” bat t e re d w a lls some threefeet thick . Onboth the east and west sides is a little window , with a semicircular alighting - ledge immediately in front . The roof is topped by a small wooden lantern , with nine panes ofglass in each of the four sides .

Here , as so frequently elsewhere , the door way deserves attention . Its outside measure 1 0 8

B OOK O F D OVECOTES

southofGreat Linford Rectory , abuildingsome

r c e n t u r i e s o f s t o n e f o u old , is a square example ,

- with a pyramid tiled roofanda lantern . Inside ,

- the nest holes are intact . Tat h a ll Ha n l e At End Farm , p , adjoining the north end of the house , is a good square dovecote , . built of stone rubble . Nests , with

- alighting ledges , still remain within the upper ﬂoor ; the age of the building is settled by the ” 1 6 0 2 TB . which may be read over the door way i n the eastern wall . At Newton Longueville is a manor - house built upon the site ofa Cluniac priory . A dove cote stands i n a ﬁeld east ofthe house ; it dates

‘ e a rl s i xt e e nt h O fromthe y century , and is fsome what unusual construction for this neighbour o f v e r t i c a l hood . Its walls are timber framing , closely set ; the intervals between the uprights , formerly filled in with plaster , are now closed i s . Th e re withbricks a tiledroofwith a skylight , and the house is fitted with oak nests . Stewkley possesses both a “ Manor Farm “ ” and Dovecote Farm ; but it is at the former that we find a dovecote standing at a few yards ’ distance from the house . It is . a n interesting 1 I O B UCKI NG H AM specimen of early eighteenth - century work ;

o ct a o n ali n . brick , and g form Thebricks are laid in what is known to builders as the “ Flemish ” “ — bond , the headers those bricks , namely , which present their ends to view— being black and arranged to form a diamond pattern . The dormer window and the lantern in the r o o f a r e

- both modern . The string course round the O f walls is made moulded bricks , while pilasters a s m n t adorntheangles . The doorwayhas e g e al I head . mmediately above it , on a plaster panel

framed in moulded brick , are the initials and

H .

date , G . A .

1 70 4 .

In Whitchurch , at a house in a lane south of ﬁn d a thechurch , we Buckinghamshireexample

of pigeons being accommodated in a dwelling . I n the north gable ofthis house are two rows of

- entrance holes . Again , at Cuddington , the vil lage club has taken possession Of what was for

u merly Tyringham Hall , a ho se constructed in

the seventeenth century . In one of the attics

a - m y be seen some nest holes built of brick .

At BurnhamAbbey , a little south ofthemain I I I BOOK O F DOV ECOTES

- buildings , isagoodsixteenth centurydovecote ; square , andbuiltoftwoandaquarterinchbricks .

d o o rw a i s be lo w t h e The y modern , but eaveson the east wall is a curious littlewindow having a

- three centred head . The roof is thatched , and hipped on all four sides .

u Finally , a dovecote with ﬁttings of un sual style stands in the grounds of the thirteenth century NotleyAbbey , at Long Crendon . It is

- a good sized building of stone , square , with a tiled hipped roof, and is seemingly a survival from the Middle Ages . But its most striking feature will be found within . Projecting i n wards from thewalls are shorterwalls , all ﬁtted

- O with nest holes . This arrangement , bviously e co no m i c alo f e rm i t s o f f o r be space , p provision f o u r a nd tween ﬁve thousand pairsofbirds . One is inclined to wo nd e r whyt hi s m e t ho d o f o bt a i n ing much additional accommodation was not o f t e n e r u s e d Th e o n l o s s i ble o b e c t i o n whi ch . yp j occurs is that of overcrowding and diminution

- of air space , a point on which the medieval builderwas not over strict . What is clear is that i the plan was seldom followed , this be ng the only instance so far brought to notice . 1 I 2

H UNTINGDON The county of Huntingdon must be passed over with the notice of a solitary but very ﬁne example— that ofthebeautiful dovecote stand ing in a small paddock at Grove House , Fen stanton , near St . Ives . It is believed to have c e nt u r a o been built about a y g , its form and de tails being copied from one seen in Italy .

It is remarkable for its height ; the dome ,

ﬁf t - supported on six slender pillars , being y two — feetfromtheground ; theweather - vane a cock — f o u r f e e t bu i ldi n c i r adds more . Itis a brick g, la c u r . , with a Circumference of some sixty feet

- There is a handsome string course , with some r m n t a lw rk o n a e o beneaththe eaves . It has four stories , and provides accommodation for about o c cu one thousand pairs ofbirds . The present pants are chieﬂy owls and daws , who , under the

- genial sway of a bird loving owner , hold their

lofty fortress in unchallenged peace .

Atthispoint , havingnowexploredsomeparts

of the Welsh Border and the Midlands , it may

be not uninteresting to record some instances ,

s c at t e re d o v e r v a ri o u s di st ri c t s i n whi ch , pigeons t o were at one time suffered , even encouraged , inhabit quarterswhollyunconnectedwith them I 1 1 3 BOOK O F DOVEC OTES

’ in the modern reader s mind . We have already seen them dwell securely in the tower of a church in Worcestershire ; even more striking cases may be found elsewhere .

DOVE CO E E R OR S O P C T INT I , H WING OTE N E

C H A PTER EI GH T PIGEONS O F T H E C H U RCH I N thatwesterncornerofGloucestershirewhich lies between the converging streams of Severn and Wye , and was formerly included in the now shrunken limits of the Forest of Dean , there stands , overlooking the larger of the two riv ers , the church of Tidenham , its massive tower

- a bold landmark visible from far down stream . The story is told that the Gloucester harbour commissioners once approached the vicar and churchwardens with the following nai ve pro posal . The tower , they said , was a good guide to mariners upon their way to port ; but its utility in this respect would be enormously increased by a periodical coat of whitewash .

Might they apply such dressing , and continue so to do from time to time? The gu ardians of the church no doubt re c e i v e d the suggestion with something of the indignation shown by the High Church vicar Pu nch who , in the pages of , interrupts a pair of tourists who have lost their way and are e n d e av o u ri ngto locate their whereabouts by the 1 1 7 BOOK O F DOVECOTES

orientation Of the chancel ; he tells them that they will discover “ an unconsecrated weather cock upon the barn close by Yet the applic ation of a church to secular as well as sacred

u n uses was , in old times , very far from being known . The tower was frequently used as a watch - station and as a point ofvantage whence S there might be hown a beacon light . Men slept in churches , feasted in them , even some ’ w a s timesfought ; St . Paul s Cathedral at once a

- market placeand public thoroughfare . It need , then , cause no very great surprise to ﬁnd some portion of a church devoted to the purpose o f

- a pigeon house . There is a very interesting Herefordshire instance of this having been the case . Some ten miles west of Hereford , and a short dis tance from the former market town of We o S a rn e s ﬁe ld bley , is the small village of . The place consists oflittlebut the Court and church , the churchyard opening from the garden ofthe

- mansion house . The churchyard has more interests than the one with which we are immediately concerned . Close to the timber porch before the church ’ s 1 I 8

B OOK OF DOVECOTES timber buildings of which the county is most justly proud . He is said to have built the old

- ! market hall of Hereford , now , alas a thing of the past ; and he rendered valuable services to 1 6 the city in 45 , when it was besieged by the

- Scottish army , by constructing corn mills . Full many a delightful cottage and farmhouse in “ black and white was probably john Abel ’ s work; nor is it unreasonable to attribute to him some of the half- timbered dovecotes still to be seen in the district— notably perhaps the charming S pecimen already visited at Butt ’ 1 6 2 House , King s Pyon , dated 3 , when Abel would be in the prime of life . But for the moment we are now concerned ’ with a date earlier than john Abel s time , and with material far more durable than that with w which he mostly worked . Our business is ith It s the small tower of the church itself. height fromground to wall - plateis but little o v e r t hi rt y

feet , and its internal measurement is only eight

feet square . The walls are massive , being some

three feet thick .

About twenty years ago , Mr . George Mar Of S arn e sﬁe ld i shall , the owner Court , not ced , 1 20 PIGEON S A ROOF

BOOK O F DOVECOTES

onlypigeon - ho u se i n the parish seems suggest ed by the name Pigeon - house Meadow in an ancient document ; but any traces of the dove t cotethere alluded to will nowbe sough invain . Very similar accommodation for pigeons occurs in the church tower at Collingbourne

Ducis , Wiltshire , and it is probable that many o ther instances exist to which attention has

not yet been drawn . The real purpose of such holes as those at S a rn e s ﬁe ld might quite easily

elude the observer , who would regard them as “ ” - putlock holes , made to receive the ends of f t e m o r horizontal timbers used in scaf olding , p a r y or otherwise .

- In several cases a pigeon house existed , s s t i lle x i s t s ometimes , in parts ofa church other than the tower . At Hellesdon , near Norwich , t here was a wooden pigeon - cote placed on the w Of o c est gable the church . Pigeons formerly ’ c u i e d p thetowerat Monk s Bretton , Yorkshire ;

Birlingham , Worcestershire ; and Gumfreston in Pembrokeshire ; nor do these instances e u t i re l y exhaust the list . We know that pigeons

- nested in the bell tower at Ensham , Oxford S i I n 1 8 8 e n h re , former days ; for in 3 a man 1 2 2 CH U RC H PI GEONS gaged in catching some of them fell down into the choir and was killed . During the reign of “ a c e rt a i n o f Henry I I I . john Hertford , who car D ried Holy Water at enham (Bucks), when he wished to drive out some pigeons from a certain lantern at the Church of Denham , out side the same church , let fall a stone from that lantern upon the head ofAgnes , wife of Robert D de enham , who was sitting in the church , so ”

i . 1 that the third day she d ed Again , in 3 7 5 the vicar of Kingston - o u - Thames was judged e n titled to all pigeons bred in the chu rch and its chapels . Adjoining the west end of the now ruin Po rt at ri ck Wi t o w ns hi re ous church of p , g , and slightly encroaching on its western wall , there is a curious small round tower . The walls are over three feet thick , and the internal diameter about nine feet . The lower portionseemsmuch older than the upper part , from which it is

- divided by a string course . The slated roof, a truncated cone in shape , is topped by a small

- pigeon cote . In 1 6 70 a door was placed at the top of the

' at Wi lm s lo w steeple church , Cheshire , in order 1 2 3 BOOK OF DOVECOTES

“ to ke e pe forth the Pi gge n s from F o wle i nge ” the church . The door seems to have failed in its duty , for five years later a net is bought for the same purpose . This apparently succeeded 1 6 8 8 no better , and finally , in , the drastic step was takenofexpendingtwopence on “ shottand ” powder to exterminate the birds . Though it seems certain that S a rn e s fie ld churchtowerwasoriginallybuilt insuchfashion as to include its utility as a dovecote , later ar rangements were in some cases made to the same end . At Elkstone , near Cheltenham , a chamber over the chancel shows clear traces Odd ofhaving been so adapted , the forty nest ing - places now seen being evidently a late a d dition . The birds flew in and out by way of an unglazed lancet window .

A like case existedat the church ofSt . Peter ,

Marlborough , where the dovecote , a chamber o h nc lhad a ro i n e d s t o n e ro o f v e r t e c ha e . , g Here pigeons nested until towards the middle ofthe nineteenth century . To the same recent period extended the custom of allowing pigeons the use of a room above the vaulting ofthe church at Overbury , Worcestershire . Four centuries 1 2 4

BOOK O F DOVECOTES — story ofthe city arms o f Gla sgo w Robin Red — breast on a s i lv e r shield memorial ofthe deed ’ u o f h e a li ngwro ght by St . Mungo on the bird s behalf; no r m i ght amanwhochasedawaya robin be inclined to take the legend as excuse . For his sake it is perhaps as well that pigeons nest no more above our English Chancels , and that the church tower harbours none bu t owls and jackdaws as its uninvited but still tolerated guests . CH A PTER NI NE

LANCAS H I RE ,

WESTM O RLAND , A N D CUM BERLA N D

BOO K O F DOVECOTES

century .

In Westmorlandthe farmof NetherLevens , S near Milnthorpe , will howtwo dovecotes , both standing in the farmyard . The largest is about twenty - seven f eet square by twenty - ﬁv e feet

e a v e s h as - high to the , aridge roof, andis divid ed into an u pper and lower story . The nest holes have been largely ﬁlled up within recent years , and the door enlarged .

The second dovecote , also square but small er , has a pyramid roof, with a stone ball upon the top . Like its neighbour , it has suffered a good deal of alteration . Both buildings are of stone . Crossing from Westmorland to Cumber la nd we a re i n , a district ofmuch interest to the ’ - dovecote hunter , andour surveyofthe county s specimens may well begin with the interest ing example standing in the grounds of the ’ - i - - mansion of Hutton the Forest . Its present position is in a plantation oftrees ; this , we may

- be sure , was non existent when the dovecote

- was erected , for pigeons do not like a tree sur — ro u nde d ho m e one reason being p ro bablythe difﬁculty of seeing where it lies . 1 30 CUM BERLAN D The dovecote is an octagonal building of dressed ashlar , similar to that of the mansion itself, which was built from designs by Inigo jones at intervals during the last forty years of the seventeenth century . The dovecote had been long neglected , till , some ﬁfty years ago , attention was called to its interest by a guest

r staying in the house , when it was put into e pair .

The potence , thoughwithout the ladder , still t o e th e r wi t h remains , g about four hundred and

- L - . i n ﬁfty nest holes These are shaped , nine ches high , ﬁve inches broad at the entrance , and penetrating nine inches into the wall , the

- right angled recess adding anotherten inches . The lowest of the twelve tiers in which they i s f o u r i m are arranged feet from the ﬂoor , and mediately before it is a ledge six inches broad . This was evidently intended as a safeguard — against rats , as the remaining ledges one to — every tier of nests are only half the breadth . The octagonal roof is surmounted by a small “ lantern or glover .

Wreay Hall has , on one of its farms , a dove cote , likewise octagonal , ofdressed ashlar , and I 3 1 BOO K O F DOVECOT ES

rather similar to the Hutton example . Four teen tiers , the lowesttwo feet from the ground , contain about ﬁvehundrednests . Thepotence , or a remnant of it , is in place , and presents an unusual f e at u re i n beingsurrounded bya ledge or shelf. The purpose of this , if purpose there were other than to provide a ﬁnish or orna ment , is hardly clear . A third octagonal dovecote will be found at

High Head Castle , near Carlisle . It is of very modest size , the external measurement of each wa ll being only seven feet four inches . The lowesttierofnests , three feetabovethe ground ,

a - is , as at Hutton , provided with six inch ledge in front , in this case formed of very massive stone . The building seems to be of early

- eighteenth century date . ’ At Bunker s Hillis a v e ryla rge ci rcu lar d o v e Of cote , built rubble stone , and visible from far . The ﬁe ld i n which it stands is known as Pigeon n u mbe r i n be w e n . t e Cote Field Thenests , g ﬁve

L - and six hundred , are shaped , built of brick , and arranged in fourteen tiers . The lowest tier is at the unusual height ofmore than seven feet above the ﬂoor; but the lower part of the 1 2 , 3

BOOK OF DOVECOTES was converted to the purpose ofa coach - house several years ago , and a large modern doorway has been made in the north wall . The original entrance , now built up , is on the south , and — very small four feet three inches high , and less than two feet wide . A single stone forms the sill , another the lintel , and both these and the jambs are broadlychamfered . The roofhas been renewed . Apart f ro m t h e o ld doorwaythechiefinterest lies within . The nests , once numbering about six hundred , are plain oblong recesses , but of u nu su all m a s s i v e co n s t r uc t i o n Th e a re bu i lt y . y of stones six inches thick by fourteen inches square . A tier of these was laid with intervals s i x i nch e s of betweenthem , andthe rows above added in the same way , the stones of one tier covering the intervals in that below . Each n e s t w as thus six inches broad , six inches high , and fourteen inches deep . Nearly eight hun dred of these massive slabs of stone , all cut to S the same ize , were used ; and the labour and cost involved , even in times when the hand of toil might be secured for a few daily pence ,

must have been very considerable . The nests I 34 CUM B ERLAND are no w perfect onlyon the east and west sides the of house . The lowest tier is practically l a leve with the ground . The tiers have no

i - light ng ledges , save that the east and west h sides ave , some four feet from the ﬂoor , a

- n three i ch ledge . Another square dovecote of interest occu rs Cro o kd ale Bro mﬁe ld at Hall , . The shape is verynearlysquare , with sidesofabouteighteen f s i x n o t e e . feet , and a height feet Theentrance for the occupants was provided by two oval

- apertures , placed half way between the eaves

- and a broad string course ; one faces north , the

other to the east . The east and west ends ,

which are gabled , have as ornament a ball of

stone , and on each angle of the building is an

- urn S hapedﬁnial . The original rooﬁngmaterial

has perished , and is replaced by red tiles . The

- nest holes , oblong recesses , are of unusually — ﬁf t e e n large dimensions inches deep , nine h e a r v i . T e e rt c inches broad , ten inches high y

all abo v e - y eachother , have no alighting ledges ,

and are built of massive ﬂags of stone . The

dovecote is of rubble , with dressed quoins . This dovecote dates from the end of the I 3 5 B OOK OF D OVECOTES

the seventeenth century , an inscription above door running as follows !

. 1 6 8 6 . Sr . I . B . (small heart) A B . The same heart is to be seen on an oak p e w B ro m ﬁe ld o in church . The initials are th se of A n Sir john Ballantyne and his wife ne , a daughter of the Musgrave family .

This dovecote has been muchaltered , a new w u windo having been made in the so th wall , and a ﬁreplace and Chimney insert e d on the east . These conveniences were introduced at some date prior to the early nineteenth cent ury , at which time the dovecote was in use as

- a school house . And at this school George

- Moore , draper , fox hunter , and philanthropist , whose life was made the subject of a volume by the worthy Samuel Smiles , received a por tion ofhis scanty education . Moore had beenﬁrst sent t o s cho o lat Bolton “ Gate , where his master was one Blackbird ” Wi lso n a e rs o n o f d ru nke n , p habits and drastic educational methods , but blessed with a mel odious whistle which had earned for him his ’ common name . Moore s father , a Cumberland S dalesman , paid six shillings and ixpence a 1 3 6

BOOK O F DOVECOTES

so carefully chronicled , should now risk losing such a good example . Yet another ﬁne stone dovecote stands at

Ble n co we . Great Farm , nearPenrith Internally it measures about ten feet square . The height e av e s i s to the eighteen feet , and the roof, form

- ing a four sided prism , is topped by a stone S ball , from which projects an iron pike . The

- building is two storied , the upperchamberhav I n ing a semicircular entrance for the birds . the room below an ovoid aperture is placed on A either side ofthe doorway . bove thedoor the W T 1 8 initials . . , with the date 7 9, are sunk in e v i d e n t l s t andi n f o r o n e the stone , the letters y g

u William Tro tbeck , formerly a dweller at the farm . The wooden ﬂoor of the upper chamber is O comparativelymodern , butreplacesoneof lder

- date . The nest holes are builtofperpendicular tiersofbricks , theirﬂoorsbeingsandstoneslabs . In the lower room recesses ofa different shape were clearly designed to meet the needs of poultry o f various sizes ; an upper tier being about three feet from the ground , while that below has nests large enough for geese and 1 3 8 CUM B ERLAND

turkeys . At CorbyCastle— that Corbywhose atoning charms David Hume recorded inthe following verse , scratched on the window of a Carlisle inn He e c cks i n e s f or e akf ast s a r hi gg br pr wl, ’ H e e o e ss o s Go s o e s s ua r g dl b y d gl ri q ll, ’ H e e S cotchm e n s e a s d o ua th e a r h d g rd w ll , ’ B ut o s a ks ato ne f or all C rby w l .

Co rb o n a slo e abov e th e c as t le i s a do v e at y, p ,

Cote which , although the lover of these build ings may regard it with some satisfaction as a curiosity , is not one such as he would care to meet too often in his pilgrimage . It is a highly Of ornate structure in the form a Doric temple , a little over twenty feet square , and having its — frontelevationadorned bya po rch whi ch le ad s tonothing , the entrance beingatthe back . The desire f o r a ppe arance s hasovercome theregard for utility in another detail ; for , about ten feet above the ground , a ledge runs round three

re su m abl i nt e n d e d - sides , p y as a perching place and lounge for the birds — a use to which they were effectually prevented from putting it by its being steeply chamfered to a slope . I 39 BOOK O F DOVECOTES

Inside , it being no longer needful to adhere to classical design , things are more sensiblyar

L - ranged . The nests , shaped , are placed upon eachwallin fourteentiers , fourteenineverytier . Each tier is furnished with its own alighting ledge . d o v e co t e i s Finally , though the rectangular, h there is a potence , and a somew at elaborate one . The upright beam , twenty feet high ,

- carries three cross arms , each seventeen feet long and projectingupon either side . On these are borne two ladders , as was frequently the case in France ; while the middle arm of the three also supports a horizontal platform about

u six feet sq are . Something of the same ar rangement is occasionally seen in other dove cotes , but its purpose is not very obvious .

The CorbyCastledovecote is a late example , dating from about a century ago ; it was doubt i n 1 8 1 re less built 3 , when the mansion was D stored in Grecian oric style . It is almost equally certain that the present dovecote is at least the second that has stood at Corby; and veryprobable that i t s f o re r u n n e r was eithercir c ular or octagonal , in which case it is easy to 1 40

CH A PTER TE N YO RKS H I RE

BOOK O F DOVECOTE S contradicts the theory of a living Yorkshire

- man , who attributes the falling off in the num ber of birds frequenting his dovecote to the presence ofan owl ; quite to the contrary , says

Waterton , the owl is there , not for the birds ,

but for the rats , and is regarded by the right

ful inmates as a welcome friend . This view ,

which we sincerely hope may be correct , was greatly valued by that lover Of the owl and

raven , Bosworth Smith , with whom the reader will come into closer touch before this volume

ends . Before dealing with Yorkshire dovecotes

generally , allusion may be made to one or two special features of our subject to be found in

that extensive county . No visitor to Darring

ton , a village in the neighbourhood of Ponte

fract , which has been described and chronicled

by that staunch Yorkshireman , Mr . j. S . Flet M e mor i a ls o cher in his fascinating volume , f a Yor hshi r e Pa r i sh , should leave it without a ’ glance at the old Vicar s Dovecote , one of two

thevillage owns . It is , indeed , no longer either

applied to its original purpose , nor in its origi

nal form , having been converted into vestries 1 46 YORKS H I RE

’ and a caretaker s dwelling . Nests formerly ex i st e d in the upper portion , and a potence was b in use . It is a uilding of large size , and must once have furnished the vicar of Darrington

- with a food supply ofno small value .

In certain parts of Yorkshire , as in the

- neighbourhood of Halifax , pigeon houses pro per are less common than what are locally call “ ” - h o i ls ed pigeon , usually found forming an “ — upper story to hen or pig - ho i ls the word being a north of England term for a hole or S shelter . A imilar arrangement is frequently found in the gables of barns , and , more curi o u s l e s e ci all th e y, in thegables , and p y porches , of many houses of the seventeenth and eight e e nt h centuries . Of Bu rle e s An example this occurs at Little ,

Wadsworth ; another at Kirk Cliff, Soyland , a 1 6 0 - house dated 3 , where three entrance holes appear above the low projecting porch; while S t a n s ﬁe ld Eastwood Lee , , and Upper Cock ro f t , Rishworth , exhibit a like provision . The pigeon - holes lead in each case to a low bu t fairly spacious room , entrance to which is pro v i d e d inside the dwelling by a trap - door in the 1 47 B OOK O F DOVECOTES

chamber ﬂoor . Turning now to dovecotes in the stricter application of the term , where can one come upon a dovecote more agreeably situated than within the bounds Of an Old garden ? Such a pleasantlyplaced example of fers for inspection in the garden of Fulford Hall , near York . The Old manor is a very one , and the present owner is nodoubt c o rre ct i n his surmise that thedove cote now standing , built towards the middle of an the eighteenth century , is the successor of older one . It is a square substantial structure of red brick , well weathered by a century and half of Of b sun and storm . The length wall is a out twenty feet , the height eighteen . Upon the old red roof is placed a cupola . Inside are about seven hundred and ﬁfty L shaped nests , still to some extent occupied by pigeons . They are arranged upon each wall in fourteen tiers , from twelve to fourteen nests

- in every tier . Alighting ledges are provided ; f but , though these project su ﬁciently to serve as hand and foot - holds to a p e rs o n climbing to explore the nests , a potence was formerly pre 1 48

BOOK O F DOVECOTES

c av e s - ﬁv e i n high to the , and about forty in

ternal Circumference . The vaulted roof has a

small round central opening . There are two string - courses upon the outer surface Of the

walls , which are over three feet thick . Inside

- are some threehundredoblongnest holes , now

untenanted . This dovecote is a very early ex

ample , dating probablyfrom the time when the

abbey of St . Mary stood upon the ground now

occupied by a large farm .

Gainford , had we but time to cross the Tees

and enter Durham , would display not a few dovecotes in the neighbourhood ; but we must

ignore them here , and pass to Snape Castle ,

near Bedale , where , in the stackyard , stands a stone - built dovecote twenty - S i x feet square

- andtwenty two feet high , withwallssomethree

feet thick . The roof of grey slates is broken

by a single dormer window , and surmounted

by a lantern . The door is two feet six inches

- wide . Inside are ﬁfteen hundred nest holes ,

- furnished with alighting ledges , and to some extent still occupied . The age of this building is probably very ’ 1 1 considerable , the date 4 4 , cut with a joiner s 1 5 0 YO RKS H I RE d chisel , having been discovered on the woo

work of the roof a few years back . The re i s aridge - roofed dovecoteat Leathley f m l s e w i e . Manor, a from Otley The middle of the ridge was formerly crowned by a very ele

- gant little ball topped stone cap , raised on pillars ; but recently the effect has been some what marred by the removal ofthe pillars and

the lowering of the cap .

Near Wakeﬁeld are three dovecotes , two of which are of special interest as standing close t hi rd at to eachother . The , Huntwick Grange , tw e n t f e e t s u a re ne arl e i ht e e n is about y q , and y g — “ ” feet high to the eaves . Pigeons wild rocks — frequented it until some years ago , but have

forsaken it of late . S harle st o n The two others stand , one at 1 Hall Farm , a house which dates from 5 74 , and the second little more than one hundred a n yards away , although on land belonging to other farm . The walls of both are fully three a nd i n s i d e feet thick , each are nestswhich have

- alighting ledges furnished to each tier . Both stand in open ﬁelds and both are frequented by wild pigeons . 1 5 1 BOOK O F DOVECOTES Remembering the part played by pigeons in bringing about the French Revolution ; re m e m be r i n - g, too , the modern pigeon shooting “ ” re days , arranged , as we a told , to rid the ’ country of a farmers pest , it may surprise us to observe howoftenpigeonsarestill tolerated , perhaps encouraged , in their former dwell ings , even when the dovecote is upon a farm .

Pigeons , we see , are kept at Fulford Hall and at Snape Castle ; while at S ha rle s t o n and the n e ighbo ur i ngf a rm the dovecotes shelter some two hundred birds . Is , then , the pigeon such a foe to farming as has been believed ? In answer to a question on this point a Yorkshire farmer writes as follows— and the agriculturists of Yorkshire are not usually re garded as being either fools or failures “ The ravages on crops by pigeons , crows , etc . , are no doubt very serious at times . On more than one occasion I have h ad large pieces ofwheat practicallyruined by crows . At times in midwinter I have shot a few pigeons , and their cropsare alwaysgorgedbywhat are prob

ably weed seeds . In my opinion the harm done for short periods in the year is more than 1 5 2

YO RKS H I RE made up for during the longer period when o they are doing good in many ways . A go d old motto is ‘ Live and Let No doubt all pigeons feed to a large extent

on grain , but the diet of some kinds at least 0 comprises the seeds of many weeds . N one would suggest a return to the six -and - twenty thousand well - stocked dovecotes of four cent u ri e s ago; but there is no sayingwhat revenge A the whirligig of time may not bring round . daymaycome when dovecotes falling into ruin

will be repaired , when architectural journals will give plans and elevations of “ desirable

dovecotes , and the village carpenter add pot ence - making to the numerous branches of his

trade .

- b - - At Marske y the Sea , on the estate of the ! a n i nt e re s t i n o ct a o na l Marquis of etland , is g g

brick dovecote , with a slated roof of the same shape ; in one side of the roofis a small dormer

- window with nine entrance holes , arranged in

rows of three . It is a large building , each wall

measuring eleven feet , while to the eaves the

- height is twenty four feet . There is a string

- course half way up the walls . 1 5 3 BOOK O F DOVECOTES

Inside , about one thousand nests are ar

i n - ranged twenty two tiers , the lowest row

being four feetsix inches from the ﬂoor . From

a pillar three feet high , placed in the centre , re rises the beam of the potence , which still

tains its ladder . The walls are nearly three

feet thick ; and , as in certain dovecotes we shall later see— though not to such a marked extent as in some cases — the surface of the ﬂoor is well below the level ofthe ground out side .

C H A PTE R ELEVEN ESS EX AND SU FFO L K “ THE lat e Mr . Harry Quilter , in a rather quaint ” ’ and curious volume which he styled Wha t s Wha t , has left on record his disapprobation of the county of Essex , which he describes as an “ undesirable locality ” in which to buy or rent a country house . His objections seem to have been founded chieﬂy on an inconvenient rail way service from London , and the presence of a Clay soil when the dif ﬁculties of transit have u nat t rac been overcome ; with , among other

- a t - e l tive features , a scanty population , out bows as regards the upper classes , dull and suspicious in the lower strata of society .

These animadversions strike us as what Mr . “ ” Pe rke r would have called harsh words . The county is less unattractive than the tints on Mr . ’ Quilter s palette would incline one to believe . Objections to it there may be ; it is sufﬁcient to the present purpose that Essex yields us a good store of dovecotes . One of the most interesting is certainly that which stands near the stables at Dynes Hall , a

house near Great Maplestead . It is of timber I S7 BOOK O F DOVECOTES

ﬁlli n - i n framing , witha lath and plaster g ; eight een feet square , and twenty feet high to the eaves . The tiled roof is a truncated pyramid , crowned by a wooden cupola of somewhat u n usual form ; it has four windows of a pleasing shape , each set in its own gable . This is prob ably an addition of later date than the dove cote itself, which , from an allusion to it in an 1 old document , appears to have existed in 5 7 5 .

The chief attraction is within . On the side facing the door are one hundred and eighty

- four nest holes . Of these , those in the upper tiers , numbering about one hundred , are of

- wood ; the eighty four below are made of clay , and are for the most part in very good condi a tion . Internal measurements give a cube of bout one foot , and each is entered by a round

- ed hole in one corner . Thirty seven similar

s t i lls urv i v e - an d nests intheleft handwall , there appear to have been more . The re i s no o t e nce bu t i t s p , place is taken bya f o u r f e e t woodentable , ﬁvefeethighand square .

There are also four high posts , each connected to its neighbours by two rails , and furnished with projecting wooden pegs . The rails and 1 5 8

BOOK O F DOVECOTES

ﬁlli n - i n g , of which Essex offers several speci mens . It forms a cube of about eighteen feet each way , with a tiled roof and a small cupola .

L - Inside are overseven hundred shaped nests , — with potence and ladder . The house Great — Bardﬁe ld Hall to which the ﬁeld and dove

c u lm i n at cote now belong , has a long history , ing in its ownership by the trustees of Guy ’ s

Hospital . The dovecote is most likely ofEliza bethan date .

The Deanery at Bocking , also near Brain tree , has a dovecote of which the lower story seems to have been long in use as a coach s t andi n i n house . Now g a garden , it at one time formed part of other farmyard buildings . It is of unusually large size , being a cube of thirty feet ; is built of brick and timber, and may with safety be attributed to Tudor days . The roof

s m a lld o rm e r is tiled , witha entrance at the top .

The inside of the walls is lined with clay , in

L - which the shaped nests are formed .

In the farmyard at Wendon Lofts Hall , near f Saf ron Walden , is an octagonal brick dove o f cote large size , the total height beingnearly fortyfeet , andthediametermorethantwenty . It 1 6 0 ESS EX AND SUFFOLK

L - s contains nearly eight hundred shaped ne ts ,

with potence and ladder complete . Another typical Essex example in timber and lath and plaster is found in the garden of

a house called The Moat , Gestingthorpe . It

is nearly square , about sixteen by ﬁfteen feet ; contains neither nest - holes no r pigeons ; and is probably ofrather later date than the ﬁf t e e n t h

century house to which it belongs . A Ti t o f t s t p , Saffron Walden , a farm which ,

just three centuries and a half ago , was pre sented by Lord Mordaunt to B raz e n o se Col

lege , Oxford , in support of scholarships , there

is a brick dovecote fourteen feet square . The

roof is of a curious form , its slope being brok at en one end by a gable . Many of the nests L have disappeared , but those remaining are

shaped .

At Little Braxted Hall , near Witham , is a

square wooden dovecote , largely constructed f a n d la c d O oak p e on a brick foundation . The ‘ tiles on the roof are of a very old type , but it is hardly safe to dogmatise upon the question of its age . Other Essex examples include the one at M 1 6 1 BOOK O F DOVECOTES m F arnha Rectory, near BishopsStortford , built f ﬁ chieﬂy of wood , and of su cient antiquity to have bestowed the name of Dovecote Pond upon a neighbouring piece of water . Suff olk must be passed over with the bare “ s o - re mention of the called dovecote , the mains of which will be seen among the abbey ruins at Bury St . Edmunds . It would be an interesting example had we any proof that it was ever applied to the purpose suggested by its common local name ; for it is of that u n usual shape , a hexagon . But no such evidence exists . About twenty feet of the tower remain , the length of each wall of the hexagon being nine feet six inches . The walls are two feet six inches t hi ck; at a height ofabout ten feet are

the remains ofa perpendicular window . Ofany sign that it was formerly a dovecote there is

none .

C H A PTE R TW ELVE DOVECOTES N EA R LONDON S HOU LD the Londoner feel himself aggrieved atthecomparativelysmallnumber ofdovec otes e a s i l acce s s i ble mentioned as being y fromtown , he is offered as consolation the following assur ance— that one of the very ﬁnest examples to be seen in England stands awaiting himwithin o f ha lf a n a railwayrun hour . In describing one ortwodovecotes tobe seen in Berkshire , Hert f o rd s hi r e , and Kent , right of priority is justly due to the splendid old building standing at L ad e y Place , a house in the parish of Hurley , near Marlow .

Its situation well becomes it , Hurley being a placeofgreat antiquity . When the ninthcent ury was on the point ofending it was traversed by the Danes upon their way from Essex into

Gloucestershire . Its manor , once possessed by ’ m Edward the Confessor s aster of the horse , was later bestowed on a De Mandeville as a reward for distinguished conduct at the Battle of Hastings ; and in 1 0 8 6 De Mandeville and his wife founded the priory of St . Mary as a 1 6 5 BOOK O F DOVECOTES cell to the great Benedictine house at West minster . Never a large house , Hurley , at the D moment of the issolution , had but eight monks , in addition to its prior .

The Lovelacefamily , connectionsofthe poet and cavalier , then came into its ownership , and were succeeded by the sister of a bishop , who purchased it with the proceeds ofa prize gain ed i n a lottery . Still later came the brother of that K e mpe n f e ldt who perished in the R oy a l Geor e g , and who himself had helped to plant a laurel alley at the place . Finally , early in the L a d e present century , y Place came into the hands ofthe presentowner , who built thehouse now seen , and to whose interesting pamphlet concerning it , as also to his kindly help in other ways , this account is largely indebted . Everything at L adye Place is of interest ; the v e r ch a rm i n ho us e i t s e lf th e s u bt e rran e an y g ,

ﬁsh - chamber , the old ponds , and the stately cedars on the lawns . But we must turn our back on all except the dovecote , standing in its ﬁeld beside a splendid tithe - barn and another building scarcely less in size .

- It is a circular stone structure , eighty eight 1 6 6

BOOK O F DOVECOTES

ed roof, as seen at Garway and elsewhere , may quite well have existed formerly and been re

- placed by that now seen . The dovecote lover

u may congrat late himself, not only on the Hur

ley dovecote , but upon the knowledge that it is

in careful hands . the law n Standingon at Place Manor , Streat ley , is a fine circular stone dovecote nearly f e e t i n eighty Circumference . The roof, oftiles , is topped by a square cupola , and has a single dormer window . Thewalls are threefeet eight inches thick , and the arched doorway five feet high by rather more than two feet wide . The oaken door appears to be original . Insidethere is a potence , also three hundred and fifty nest holes .

Turning now to Hertfordshire , we ﬁnd an octagonal brick dovecote of unusual size at

Walkern Manor Farm , near Stevenage . The height to eaves is twenty feet , whileeach ofthe eight faces is twelve feet in length . The walls however , are but fourteen inches thick . The tiled roof is crowned by a small open cupola of ra the r e le a nt f o rm whi ch co v e rs a ce nt ra lo e n g , p ing . More than ﬁve hundred plainoblongnest I 6 8 LA D YE P C E HU R E B E R S LA , L Y , K

F a ce y 1 6 8

B OOK OF DOVECOTES for it is hardly earlier in date than jacobean

times ; a square brick building , roofed with old

ﬂat tiles . The pyramidal roofisbrokenbythree

- t o e d cu o la dormerwindows , and a zinc pp p sur ’ mounts thewhole . Thedovecote s form is near l y cubical ; the walls eleven feet high , eleven feet four inches square . Inside there are about

L - two hundred shaped nests . The tiers com mence four feet above the earthen ﬂoor , which is upon a lower level than the ground outside . Another pleasant Kentish dovecote is found at East Farleigh , also near the county town .

It is circular , built of stone rubble , with tiled

- roof. The walls , twenty six feet high to the eaves , are four feet thick at the ground level , graduallydiminishing to three feetat the top a plan not very common . The diameter is four

a s t ri n - teen feet . Thebuildinghas g course half way up . The deep - eaved roof contains four dormer windows , and is crowned by a square cupola . The weather - vane this carries is pierced with “ I i s lf s j. A . but the building t e i certainly ofgreater age . Inside there are eight tiers of

- - - L a t i e r . shapednest holes , twenty nineneststo 1 7 O C H A PTER TH I RTEEN

SU SSEX , H AM PS H I RE , A N D WI LTS H I RE

BOOK O F DOVECOTES was placed slightly more towards the north than the western one . This enormous dovecote is variously stated to have contained from two to four , or even

- ﬁve thousand nest holes , as to the shape of which there is no information to be had . Over each of the four gables the roof projected in a curious and picturesque manner, giving ample shelter to the perching birds . That such a building shouldhavebeen d e li be ra t e lyd e s t ro y ed is a lasting disgrace to Sussex in particular , and to British antiquarianism in general . Since the disappearance ofthe Lewes speci men the county has perhaps ' good reason to consider the example standing at a farm at

Berwick , not far distant , as among the best a m ass i v e l which it can boast . Itis y builtsquare structure , withanglebuttresses , and has suffer be ed to some extent from alterations , besides inga good deal obscuredby surrounding build

ings . Failing particulars of its former internal

arrangements , we are consoled by information

as to its utility three centuries ago . This is revealed in R e membr a nces f or the Pa r sons of B e r wi ch d , written by Preben ary john Nutt I 7 4 SUSSEX who commenced these notes about his parish

- 1 6 1 . in 9, and died thirty four years later In 1 6 2 2 he writes ! “ The Pigge o n hou se has pai e d mee tithes and doth this ye e re by Nicholas Dobson now e e re farmer thereof; it is rented at ! ;5 . a y but I take them in kinde and stand to the t ruth e and conscience of the farmer in the paying of them . ’ If Prebendary Nutt consumed ﬁv e pounds worth of pigeons annually , they must , con s i d e ri ng the comparative value of money in those days , have been but rarely absent from his table . Still , there are far worse things than

- pigeon pie .

Not far distant from Berwick , in a ﬁeld at

Charleston Farm , is another good dovecote ;

circular in shape , and built of ﬂints , with a o height of f urteen feet , an internal diameter of u eighteen , and a tiled roof curio sly ﬁnished at

its apex . The walls are very thick and the door

rather small . The potence is in place , as also

about three hundred and ﬁfty nests . These , thoughin several instances re pa i re d wi th bricks

e o k S a . and tiles , ar f chal l bs and blocks I 7S BOOK OF DOVECOTES In the middle of a ﬁeld at Treyford Manor Farm is a rectangular stone dovecote in good

- ﬁv e repair , a little over twenty feet long , by nearlytwenty wide . The ridged roof is oftiles .

The walls are little less than three feet thick ,

f o rm e r s i z e while the door , nowaltered from its , was v e r y narrow , with anogeearch . The height to the eaves is about eighteen feet . More than

L - - ﬁve hundred shaped nest holes are in place . i t s e lf i s 1 6 2 1 The Manor Farm dated , and the dovecote may quite well be Older by at least a century . A t Trotton , near Midhurst , a square four gabledseventeenth - centurydovecote stands in a ard e n f e e t t hi ck g . Thewalls , three , aretwenty ﬁv e i n t h e able length , thetotal heightto g ridge

- being thirty four . The building , which is dated I 6 2 6 s m a llTu do r d o o rw a , hasa y, withawindow similar in style . Inside are twelve hundred L - shaped nests ; re also , at a height of nine and eighteen feet s e ct i v e l - p y, a six inch ledge ofstone , the under s u e s edge ofeach being chamfered . A local gg tion is that these were the supports for two div c iding ﬂoors , the building having on e contain 1 7 6

H A M PSH I RE

ed three stories ; but there is no trace of beams , and it is m ore probable that the two ledgeswere

- provided , partly as alighting ledges , partly as a I safeguard against rats . n any case they are an unusual feature and add largely to the interest of the whole . Few Hampshire dovecotes can hopeto rival in interest the one specimen that can be m e n t i o n e d — here that found at Basing House , a place which bulks so large in history . Basing

Housewas , underthe careofitsowner , the Mar quis of Winchester , a stronghold of Royalist faith and endurance through a portion of the Ci v i lWa r Of , sustaining sieges during upwards twoyears , untilatlengthstormedanddestroyed 1 6 by Cromwell early in October 45 . The i m portance attached to its fall may be judged by the reward of two hundred pounds awarded to Ha mm o nd wh o Colonel , carried to Londonthe good news of the success ; and a certain Mr . Peters dilated in glowing terms to a rejoicing Parliament upon the magnitude of both the f o r t i ﬁ place and victory . The surrounding ca t i o n s w e re over amile inextent ; the Old House “ had stood for several centuries , a nest of Idol N 1 7 7 BOOK O F DOVECOTES

” “ atry ; the New Housewas f u rn i sh e d fit tomake ’ ” an emperor s court . One bedroom alone con t a i ne d furniture to the estimated value ofsome thirteen hundred pounds . The placewas provi s i o ne d f o u r hu ndre d foryears ; quartersofwheat , “ fl i t che s hundreds of of bacon , beer , divers ” - —a cellars full , and very good point on which wa s u ali fie d t o u d e h av i n Mr . Peters q j g , gtasted the same . N 0 less than seventy - four defenders of the stately house were slain , including one woman “ ” who h ad h e r ra i li n provoked the soldiers by g, andan o f fice r who se he ight i s givenas n i n e f e e t ! i n t o t al Theplace wasplundered , fired , laid ruin .

Mr . Peters further speaks of the beef, pork , andoatmeal laid instore ; but therewas another

- source of food supply , ofwhich the gallant gar — risonnodoubt madeuse the dovecotes , stand o f a lo n ing one at either end ggardenwall . One ofthe two at least was almost certainly in plac e when Basing House was stormed three cent u ri e s ago , although it hardly dates , as reported locally , from the eleventh century . The second a t ha t che d dovecote , building , isofdoubtfulage . The one which doubtless furnished to the 1 78

BOOK O F DOVECOTES

o f S wi n d o n village to thewest , and not difﬁcult of access from Purton station . It is a square brick building , standing atthe junctionofthree

- - fruit tree coveredwalls . Itswallsaretwentyfeet i n le n t h g , itsheightaboutthirty . Theroofofold Cotswold stone tiles is very picturesque ; four gabled , withthecentralcupolacrowned bywhat appears to be the mutilated ﬁgure of a pigeon , ” or at least a bird . There is a practicable door

on thewestside , another, nowbricked up , being

Opposite . Inside are more than one thousand

simple oblong nests , together with a potence . The building seems to date from the time of

Anne or the early Georges . O Alarge blongstone dovecote , witha hipped

- s t a nd s i n andstone tiledroof, anotherWiltshire

‘ ’ a a rd s garden , at the house known as j gg , Cors

A lt ho u h i t - ham . g measurestwenty sixfeet long by twenty feet in width it only holds about two Of hundred nests , some few which are tenanted

- to day . Oneofthe two doors ismodern , and the building generally has suffered considerable

alteration , the lower part having served as a

cowhouse .

- A circular stone example , with a stone tiled 1 80 WI LTS HIR E

roofand small arched doorway , is in the yardat “ ” s e u Wick Farm , Lacock . Wick was the p d o n ym that jefferies gave to his old home Of Coate ; was it this place he had in mind? The building , whichmayverywell datefromas early as the fourteenth century , contains about ﬁve hundred nests , as well as the remains of a for mer potence . One of the most curious and interesting of Wiltshire dovecotes exists at the ancient

- manor house of Wilcot , near Pewsey , a place

mentionedin Domesday Book , andstillexhibit “ ’ ing traces ofmonastic buildings . The Monks Walk ” is the name given to a path beside the “ ” ponds known asthe Eel S t e w s ; a n d close byis what i s v e rypossiblythe a lmost equallyancient

dovecote , a Circular brick building with a cone

shaped roof. Above the low doorway is a small

square grated window . d o o r i v e s t o f o u r The g access steps , the dove cote ’ s ﬂoor being severalfeet belowthe level of

thegroundoutside . We shallshortlyseeaneven morestrikingexampleofa d o v e c o t e beingpart

ly underground . The internal diameter issome t he he i ht twelve feet , g toeaves about eighteen . 1 8 1 BOOK O F DOVECOTES

About ﬁve h u ndred L - shaped nest - holes still d remain ; so , too , oes the main beam ofthe pot

- ence , with some portions of its ladder bearing

arms . A v e ryi nte re st i ngd o v e co t e e njo ys a de li ght ful situation in a corner of the rose - garden at F ﬁe ld y Manor , near Pewsey , a house which ,

dating in the main from Tudor times , has de f o . tails still greater age Thedovecote , twenty ﬁv e feet square , is built ofalternate courses of brick and stone ; has a tiled roof, with cupola and weather - vane ; a single window; and three

- ﬁv e L - - hundred and sixty shaped nest holes ,

- provided with very narrow alighting ledges .

The walls are four feet thick , the doorway four feet six by two feet t hree . The upright of the potence still survives . — The number of nest - holes one for each — dayofthe year can ha rdlyhav e be e n a matter of chance . The same number occurs in some other examples .

M S E R OVE OX OR S IN T L L , F D HI R E

rom H h wa s a nd B a F ig y yw ys i n Oxf or d a n d the Cots w old s C HA PTER FOURTEEN GLOUC ESTER A ND OXFO RD F R OM the many ﬁne dovecotes scattered through the lengthand breadth ofGloucester shire bardlya better introductory example can be Chosen thanthat standing in a meadownear

the ManorFarm at Daglingworth , a Cotswold

village three miles distant from Cirencester .

o f ~ Go d s t o w The nunnery had a cell , or as “ s u e r ﬂu Dame juliana Berners calls it , a p ” ity , at Daglingworth ; and here , as in so many

other instances , it is the dovecote only which

survives .

It is a large circular building of stone , with a string - course more than half- way up the

walls , and a roof in which are two dormer win

- dows . There is no cupola , the weather vane

rising directly from the apex of the roof. In

side are ﬁve hundred and ﬁfty nests , with the

potence in working order . Although our business here is with dove

cotes , it would , as remarked by Mrs . Micawber “ ” in somewhat similar circumstances , be rash to leave Daglingworth without pausing at the 1 8 5 BOOK OF DOVECOTES

i f o n l i n church , y to read the following quaint scription , quoted by Mr . H . A . Evans in his

H ighw ay s a nd By w ay s i n Oxford a nd the Cots ~ w olds ; it will be found upon a brass inside the porch , and runs

THE D I S S E CTI ON AND D I STR I BUTI ON OF GILE S HA N D cox

Wh o e a rth be que ath e d t o e a rth t o H e ave n hi s soule To f rie nds hi s l ove t o th e p oo re a ﬁve pound d o le To t e m ai ne f or e ve r an d be i mploye d For th e ir b e st advantage an d re le ef e I n D agli ngworth A h 6 8 t . 1 p ril e 9 3 .

Mr . Evans , by the way , deserves mention here as one ofthe few writers inthe H i ghway s a nd By w ay s series who pays any marked a t tention to those old buildings which are our chief delight . Mr . Lucas , for instance , passes over the Sussex dovecote at Trotton without giving it a single word . A very similar dovecote of almost equal ex

ternal attraction exists at Bibury , near North

leach . Though circular , it carries on its roof s u are la n t e rn a small q mounted on four pillars , the whole seemingly a modern addition ; there 1 8 6

BOOK OF DOVECOTES

Chastleton House , in the village of that name near Moreton - i n - the - Marsh ; for here is a very handsome , although perhaps not very ancient dovecote , ofa style not often seen . It consists of an upper story only , raised on massive arches rising from stone pillars— the material of which the house itself is built . The four gabled roof, with a circular window in each gable , is crowned by an open octagonal lan o f tern . In spite many endeavours to obtain further particulars of this handsome dovecote , information on the subject is withheld . Chastleton Housewasformerlythe property of Robert Catesby , a distinguished member of the Guy Fawkes gang . It is said to contain ’ Charles the First s Bible . Every possible information was readily fur n i s he d by the owner of the delightful dovecote a t t ra c at Stanton Harcourt , a building which ,

‘ do u bl cha rm i n tive in itself, isrendered y g from its situation on the lawn before the Parsonage

House . It is a square stone structure covered

- with rough cast , roofed with local slates , and lighted by a window in one wall . The walls are two feet nine inches thick , and the door 1 8 8 OXFO RD very small— three feet eleven Inches high by two feet wide . Additional interest attaches to this detail of the building by the fact that the

original outer door remains , secured by two

strong locks ; and , further , thatthere is a second

inner door , ﬂush with the inside surface of the f re wall . This doubling of the doors , a fairly

quent feature ofthe Scottish dovecotes , is less

often seen in English instances . Unsuitable as the shape seems forthe intro

duction of a potence , one was nevertheless re present till a few years since , when it was

moved , the beam being preserved . Pigeons ,

too , nested here till recently . More than three

hundred nests were built into the walls , while

several dozen others were of wood . Parsonage House 18 known to have been

rebuilt in the reign of Anne , but the dovecote

is probably coeval with an older house .

At the Hall , Kiddington , near Woodstock ,

is a circular stone dovecote , over twenty feet

in diameter , having threedormer windows and L a lantern in the roof. Several hundred S u haped nests are still in place , f rnished with

- he re i . T s alighting ledges also a potence . The 1 8 9 BOOK OF DOVECOTES

walls are three feet thick , the doorwaynot par l s m all f e at u re i s t i cu la r y . Themostunusual the presence of a low cellarﬂoor below the ground

level . A rather attractive octagonal dovecote of

stone stands in a ﬁeld at Milcombe , near Ban e t he bury . The length of each wall is nine f et ;

octagonal roof has four windows , one in each

alternate section , and is crowned by an open O cupola . Thereare eighthundred simple blong

- bu t - nest holes , neither alighting ledges nor s t i llh au nt ho u S e potence . Pigeons the to some

extent . Minster Lovel supplies us with a s u bs t a n tial circularexample built of stone , rather plain

- in appearance , with a small four pillared cup ola upon the roof. Among other dovecotes of the county may be mentioned the square four gabled specimen at Shipton Court . Those of theOxford Colleges , nowalldemolished , would n require a le gthy chapter to themselves . Clat t e rco t At , six miles from Banbury , traces ofthe former priory of Gilbertine canons may be seen at a farmhouse ; a nd in the garden is a

- good three storied dovecote , about twelve feet 1 90

C H A PTER FI FTEEN MONM OUTH S H I RE A N D WALES

BOOK O F D OVECOTES

The walls , three feet six inches thick , form a

- cube oftwenty onefeet . That onthesouth side has , besides a door placed several feet above

n - the ground , four exter al alighting ledges ,

- each with four entrance holes . Within are one

- hundred and ﬁfty oblong nest holes , also pro v i d e d with ledges . There are some remains of an old Norman

u castle , to which the Co rt House was built as successor . Over the door of the farmhouse is thewarmWelsh greeting freelytranslatableas

T ou na o be th e o o e i s th e e co e h gh rr w d r, wid w l m ,

1 with the date 6 5 3 . Not muchisnowto be seen ofthe next dove cote of the county , which lies in its extreme

- north west corner , in a narrow slip of country that runs up between the mountainousborders of Herefordshire and Brecon . Here , hidden by hill ramparts upon either side , and lying on

- ﬂ o wi n the bank of the swift g Honddu river , is Llanthony Priory , where was unearthed by chance in 1 90 5 one of the most curio usly con structed dovecotes known . I t was di scovered by some workmen who 1 96 MON MOUTHS HIR E

were digging in a ﬁeld , and its remains were at once examined by an expert . What he sawwas a great part of a building of roughly dressed stone , circular , with a diameter ofnearlyﬁfteen

L - feet . The presence ofseveral tiersof shaped

- nest holes , their inner arms turning right and re s e c t i v e l i n left p y alternatetiers , left no doubt ’ as to the structure s use . It had quite cle arly always stood some seven b l h feet e o w t e surface ofthe ground . At a little above this height the walls began to arch i n wards and were covered by a beehive - shaped roof, formed of ﬂat stones ofconsiderable size , l r n ll and o v rl n ac e d h o i z o t a e a i e ach . p y, pp g other The inner surface of this roof was smoothly

- plastered with a mortar like cement , but the ’ outside was rough , and it was the observer s opinion that the columbarium was construct ed with a view to the roof and upper portions — of the walls being covered with earth at a ny i i rate at certa n t mes . The broken capstone of the roofwas found ; circular , four feet four inches in diameter , with a round central hole sixteen inches across . A

- w a chased line round the stone , half y between I 97 BOO K O F DOVECOTES

the central hole and outer edge , suggested the former presence of some sort of lid .

The walls were four feet thick . The door

- way , placed onthe south west , was approached between wing walls , doubtless constructed to f a lli n i n The n e s t s ro preventtheearthfrom g . , p v i d e d - with alighting ledges , varied consider i n ably depth , the builders having been with out the guide o i an even and well - d e ﬁn e d face upon the outer surface of the walls . It seems extremely difﬁcult to account for

- s u bt e r the dovecote being so built . A semi ra ne an S ituation would surely have an eff ect thereverse of be n e ﬁci a lo n the health and com o f fort the birds . True that the region was a wild one in the days when it was built ; wild even later still , as Walter Savage Landor was to ﬁnd when he took up his quarters at the Priory inn and set himself to plant the bare hill - slopes with cedars and to build himself a

- lordly pleasure house . The dwellers in that lonely district looked askance upon him , high and low alike ; pulled up his cedar saplings , quarrelled with him , would not pay their rents

hi m u s t i c e or make j of the peace . The house 1 98

B OOK O F DOVECOTES

- a rt i ﬁc i a l e half , for advantage has been tak n of

the site by man . u n The cliff crack has , at some date now

known , been Closed in by a solid wall , sixty feet a t in height and ten feet thick the base . This i n wall is pierced by several windows , while a side there is rough stone stair . Further , the inner face is lined by many hundred L - shaped

- nest holes . The w i ld ro ckpi ge o n s t i llf re qu e n t s t he co a s t ; the purpose ofthe unknown builder ofthe wall is fairly Clear— to attract the birds to nest in the holes he had provided , when , covering the

windows with a net , he would be able to secure be what required from time to time . This Port

Eynon dovecote is most probably unique . ’ Cald e Illt d s On y Island , at St . y Priory , a religious house believed to have been founded

in the sixth century , and now again occupied

by monks of the order of St . Benedict , there is a rather interesting dovecote over an archway

in the west wall of the garth . The buildings still surviving range in age from the eleventh

- to the sixteenth century , and the pigeon loft

is probably of the ﬁfteenth . It only contains 200 WALES

O - about thirty plain blong nest holes , each fur n i she d - with a narrow stone alighting ledge , and pigeons are still kept .

At Angle Hall , near Pembroke , is a dove Of cote obviously great antiquity . It is built of rough stones of very varied S ize and shape ; is circular , with a domed roof, in which there is a central aperture about one foot in width . The height of the walls to the spring of the dome is about twelve feet ; there is a string - course

- at their summit , and another half way up the dome . The internal diameter is twelve feet . A modern opening has unfortunately been made for the admittance ofcattle, but the arch ﬁv e ofthe old doorway , whichwas feet high by three feet wide , is seen immediately upon the

Of L - right this . Thenests are not shaped , there

- is no potence , and alighting ledges are found only here and there . The walls are three feet thick . But the most curious feature is the presence in thewallsofwhatatﬁrst appear to be external

- nest holes , dotted here and there . These are not nests , however , but lead through into the building , forming entrances and exits for the 20 1 BOOK O F DOVECOTES

birds . Some are blocked up , but the original number was about four dozen , leading to four ofthetiers . The holestaketheir places in order

- among the nest holes proper , and were clearly no afterthought , but so constructed when the dovecote was built . This very rare arrangement will be found re e at e d p in some Cornish specimens , but seems to be unknown elsewhere . It would certainly lay the building open to attacks by rats and a other vermin , and may probably have been ba nd o ne d upon that account . The date of the Angle Hall dovecote has been put at the twelfth or thirteenth century , rath e r la r e d o o r and , with the exception ofthe g way , everything about the building points to o f whi c h its great age . Angle Castle , ruins still remain some hundred yards away , was , from I 2 1 5 , inhabited for nearly two centuries and a

u half by the De Ang lo and Shirburn families .

I n 1 44 7 Edward de Shirburn dedicated to St . Anthony a little chapel which still stands in the churchyard . Dovecotes rather s i m i lar i n plan and general detail to the Angle specimen— always except 20 2

B OOK O F DOVECOTES

is formed; these being so laid that ﬁnally a cen

tral aperture is left . Over this is now a cupola ,

probably a later addition . A square dovecoteoffers nogreat prospectof a potence to be seen inside ; and here there is s t ri c t e r a li a t i n none in the pp c o oftheterm . But its place is adequately taken by a central stone

pillar , ﬁtted to a considerable height with pro je c t i ng stone steps which gave an easy access

to the nests . The building probably dates from

about the time of Henry VI I I . Lla n e u ra i d In thesamedistrict , at g , isagood

Elizabethan dovecote , formingtheupper story

- toan open shelter below . It is four gabled , with a cupola to match ; is lighted by diamond - shap

- ed windows , and has a string course round the n h nd nSi d e o e u re d . walls . I thereare about nests Before closing this somewhat inadequate description ofa few Welsh dovecotes— all that — space permits a word is due to one example long since passed away . Were it in place to day it would almost certainly enjoy the dis tinction of being the only pentagonal speci i n men the kingdom . This building once stood in the courtyard 2 0 4 WALES D of Holt Castle , enbighshire . The fortress

ﬁv e - was itself sided , and the dovecote was no doubt designed tobeinkeepingwith thewhole .

- 1 6 2 0 A ground plan ofthe castle , dated , shows “ ” a ﬁv e - sided building marked Dovecote in “ the courtyard , and a note records it as a de c a d - ﬁu e y doue house square .

CH APTER SIXTEEN D EVON AND CORNWALL

CON TR A R Y t O expectation Devonshire , a county otherwise so rich in history , legend , ancient monuments of many kinds , yields but a poor return so far as dovecotes are concerned . It is extremely difﬁcult to understand why Devon shire should have possessed few dovecotes ; equally difﬁcult to know why , if they once ex i st e d so , they should have largely disappear ed . The fact remains , the explanation rests obscure .

Still , that county which , to many persons other than its own inhabitants , will ever be the best loved in all England , is not entirely with o u t examples . At Powderham Castle , near Ex Of eter , the seat ofthe Earl Devon , a ﬁeld con tains an ancient dovecote standing near the

Exeter to Dawlish road . The ﬁeld is known as “ Pigeon Vale but as a human family of

Pigeons has for long resided in the parish , it is most probably to them , and not to the old ’ building s former occupants , the name is due . The dovecote is also locally known as the P 2 0 9 BOOK O F DOVECOTES

“ Round House . It is a circular brick build n o w ing of considerable size , and is converted into a cottage . Needless to say the nests have re disappeared , and the structure cannot be garded as any very great “ ﬁnd ” by the dove cote enthusiast .

Away in the north of the county , at Stoke

Rivers , near Barnstaple , the rectory garden ’ has a dovecote which , like the hero s helmet , “ ” has been converted to a hive for bees ; the

- late incumbent , a whole hearted apiculturist , having made it the headquarters of his hives .

It is a small octagonal building ofstone , with a thatched roof. We are better rewarded at Buckland - tout

Saints , a village near Kingsbridge , where , in — the garden of the mansion house , there is a D good example of a evon dovecote , built of “ ” stone and cob . It is circular , with an inside diameter of ﬁfteen feet , a thatched roof and dormer windows . The outer surface ofthewalls

- is ivy covered , and the inside boarded over .

The walls are very thick , the doorway notice ably small and low .

The owner has adapted it as a game larder , 2 1 0

BOOK OF DOVECOTES One of the best of Devonshire dovecotes stands in an orchard of comparatively modern m l i h Pr i dha s e . growth at g , Ashburton The bu i ldi n s e e m i n l g, g y of Norman date , is circular and built of stone . The height to the eaves is

ﬁfteen feet , and the circumference more than ro o f wi t h sixty . Thedomed , a stone coping , has in the centre a circular opening , two feet six inches in diameter . Thedoorway , ﬁvefeethigh and two feet broad , displays a pointed arch and chamfered edges to the jambs ; the walls are three feet thick . Inside there are eleven tiers

- of oblong nest holes , about two hundred and

ﬁfty in all . Only a few of the upper nests have

ro e c t i n s lat e s - p j g as alighting ledges . Thebuild ing is much overgrown with ivy .

Passing nowto Cornwall , we ﬁnd a dovecote G a rle n i ch at the house of , near Grampound .

bu i ldi n s t andi n u st i n s i d e The g, gj theentrance I 1 1 . t gate , is dated 7 4 is of brick , octagonal , with a thatched roof, and contains about two hundred nests . The walls are twenty feet in height to the eaves . Of much greater interest is the very ancient ” “ c ulv e r y, the local contraction for Culver 2 1 2 CORNW ALL hay (culver pigeon , hay a house or home

a t . stead)existing Trevanion , nearWadebridge It i s a CIrcu lar st ru c t u re , built ofstoneand earth , in whichno signs oflime or mortar , as weknow it , can be traced . The internal diameter is eleven feet , the height of the walls eighteen , and the size ofthe doorway six feet by three .

The roof, also of stone , is domed after the fashion ofthe earlier Norman examples . Inthe centre was originally the Circular hole seen in so many dovecotes ofthis shape and type ; but , in this instance , above the hole was a stone , supported on pillars . The pillars have been later removed , and the stone placed ﬂat upon the hole , thus closing it . ’ This would , apparently , close the building s

- career as a pigeon house . But , here , as at

Angle Hall in Wales , we ﬁnd that several e n holes pierce through the walls , providing trance for the birds . It is interesting to ﬁnd that this curious plan , which was clearly never a followed as a general rule , should be adopted i n like southern Wales and Cornwall , districts linked in other ways .

Other holes , near the top of the walls inside , 2 1 3 BOOK O F DOVECOTES were seemingly designed to support the hori z o n t albeams to which was secured the upper end of the potence , which , the centre of the roofbeing open , could not besupported at that point . Another curious featureofthis v e ry i nt e re s t ing dovecote is the relatively small number of the nests —one hundred and thirty only wholly disproportioned to a buildingof its size .

r e u lat i o n i n Was there some g thedistrict , limit ? ing the number of birds kept But if such re ’ gu lat i o n datedfromthe period ofthedovecote s

ﬁrst erection , why then was it built upon so large a scale ?

This dovecote at Trevanion is , although re much overgrown with ivy , still in excellent pair , andan object ofkeen interest toits owner . V The same is happily the case at the icarage , Tre v e n a , where a very similar dovecote is still usedfor its original purpose . It is a little larger

u - than the one j st noticed , has more nest holes , and is pa rt i cu la rlywo rth seeingas stillshowing the original arrangement of the opening in the roof; the aperture being covered by a slab sup

ported Ou three stone pillars . 2 1 4

C H A PTE R SEVENTE SOM ERSET AND DORS ET

BOO K O F DOVECOTES

spring , it was full of birds , old and young (it would contain quite two thousand) some one S hut up or forgot to Open the window which gave the pigeons egress to ﬁnd food for them o ccu selves and their young , and that all the pants were starved to death . ad At West Camel , near Bath , in a paddock a joining the rectory garden , is circular dove ﬁf cote with four buttresses . The diameter is

teen feet , the height considerable . Inside is no sign o f the potence which probably once exist

ed , but , though untenanted , more than seven

- L hundrednest holes still remain , some being

shaped , others of more simple plan .

The roof is of rough tiles , the walls but little

short of three feet thick , and the door notice a ably small . Close by is good specimen of an

old tithe barn , perhaps coeval with the dove

cote . West Camel was formerly an appendage Mi che lne A of y bbey , near Langport , and the tradition of this having been the abbot ’ s dove

cote is quite probably correct . A n e n even ﬁner tithe barn , with a stately

trance , buttresses , and narrow cruciform win

- dow slits , isthenear neighbour of the dovecote 2 20 SO MERSET

n at the Ma or House , Pilton . Both house and barn belonged to Glastonbury Abbey . The st andi n i n dovecote , g theyard , is a square stone a n n o w a t building ofno particular beauty , d is t a ch e d n to other buildi gs . The length is eight een feet , the breadth some two feet less , and height to gable of the tiled roof twenty - ﬁv e

- feet . Several hundred nest holes are still seen within . This dovecote , like the one previously noticed , is buttressed . The suggestion that it is of very early date is conﬁrmed by the good — thickness of the walls three feet four inches .

One window faces south , another west . The doorwayon the ground le v e li s Cle a rly a m o d e rn addition , the original entry having been by a small door placed high in the north wall , and doubtless reached by a ladder . I v tho rn o b At y Manor , Street , we have an long dovecote , measuring thirty and a halffeet

- by twenty one and a half. There is a gabled re roof, the tiles on which have clearly been newed in modern times . The whole north end

- has also been rebuilt , a barn door being insert ed , and the former nests removed . The three remaining S ides contain nests to the number 2 2 1 BOOK O F DOVECOTES

of over ﬁve hundred . The partitions between them are noticeable as bei ng of a very porous “ ” limestone , known as coral rag and stated to

I v t ho rn - be French . y manor house dates back o for over seven centuries , but the d vecote is of less antiquity . A n o t h e r o blo n gdovecote occurs at Witham ,

near Bath . It formerly stood in the middle of other farm buildings belonging to Witham

Priory , for it is mentioned in an inventory of the early part ofthe sixteenth century . Its old s u rr o u nd i n s h av e n o w d i sa e a re d a ro ad g pp , runs through their site , and by this road the dove t cote s ands . Moveover , it has suffered drastic

- alteration as to purpose , being to day the Par ish Room . It is a building thirty - one feet long by thir ln teenfeet breadth , with a heightof twenty feet

hi h - n t o t he . e wl t i le d g pitchedroof Theroofis y ,

- but still retains its ancient timber work . The walls are three feet thick and are supported by four buttresses . The ancient doorway has now S disappeared . The till remaining nests are of

- the orthodox L shape . Thereisanunusualinternal featureforwhich 2 2 2

BOOK O F DOVECOTES

printed in a magazine some years ago , in which “ ’ — itisdescribedasthe monks barn a n obvious ly erroneous account of a building at once cir u la r c and small . Then follows a correspondent who , while not supportingthistheory , suggests that it was always what it is to - day ; namely a “ - store house , or, as an alternative , a game ” kitchen . But doubt is seemingly dispelled byt he pre o f sent tenant the farm , who , in a description of the building which is both minute and clear , states that though many of the original nest holes are blocked up , some still remain and others can be traced . They had an entrance i n six or seven inches square , and enlarged wards .

This seems conclusive , and the Stogursey dovecote is , in consequence , entitled to admis sion here . An interestingdovecotestandsinthechurch

d f N r o n - - It wa s a m ano ri a l ar o o t . y sub Hamdon , n o t a clerical appurtenance , formerly standing i t s re s e nt in aﬁeld , and onlyassuming p position when the churchyard was enlarged some years ago . SOM ERSET It is a picturesque circular building of Ham

s to n e wi th - , a cone shaped roof inwhich are two w dormer indows . The cupola takes the form of

a ﬂat stone slab , supported by four small stone

pillars andsurmounted byan ornamental knob . The i n t e rnaldi a m e t e r ofthe bu i ldi ngi s thirteen

feet , the heightto eaves a littlemore . The level of the ﬂoor is some feet lower than the ground

outside . Inside are about four hundred oblong

nests .

Five buttresses support the walls , which are — three feet thick . The doorway is small four

feetsix inches high , bytwo feet four in breadth . On one jamb is carved the date 1 78 5 ; but the body Of thebuilding iscertainlythe equal inage — ﬁf t e e n t h . of the century church Trask , in his “ ! history ofthe parish , says The dovecote , held 6 3 8d by Nicholas Newcombe at . . rent , is still altho u h i t with us , g was builtbeforethechurch . t he The rent , unlike rent of other dwellings at thepresenttime , is falling , foroneshillingannu ally is now paid to the lord of the manor by the churchwardens .

- - Not far distant , at Stoke sub Hamdon , is a dovecotenowrooﬂess . It i s a ci rc u lar stonebuild Q 2 2 5 BOOK O F DOVECOTES

ing , sixteen feet high to the eaves , and ﬁfteen i n Th e re i s a s m alls u are f e e t diameter . q window t hi ck a n d near the roof, thewalls are three feet , the door four feet high . Inside are about ﬁve

u - h ndred oblong nest holes , but no trace of a 1 0 6 potence . A priory existed here in 3 . ’ S o m e rs e t s do v e co t e s u s lo n have detained g, D leaving but little time for those of orset , the c nt h last English o u y e re to be described . Four “ only will be noticed ; these , though few , are “ more than ﬁt , and eminently worthy of their place . Most beautiful for situation is the dovecote standing on the lawn atAthelhampton Hall , an ancient manor - house distinguished even in a ’ county which is full of such . The dovecote s background , looking at it from the house , is formed ofimmemorial elms ; whileclose behind it are green walls ofcloselyclipped yew hedges stretching in along perspectivefrom thevelvet t u rﬂ

The dovecote is a large round building , in circumference over eighty feet . The walls are buttressed , and against them several ancient pear trees grow— the most innocuous form of 2 2 6

BOOK O F DOVECOTES

a any ofthe specimens already seen . It stands bout three hundred yards from the house , on a small hill in a wood , and is built of mixed brick fl i n t s and . The height to the eaves is consider able , being forty feet ; the diameter is twenty one . While the greater portion of the building is of circular form , the first six feet from the ground is octagonal . i n This , at least , is the case externally ; but side , the whole , from floor to roof, is round . It contains over eight hundred L - shaped nest

- holes , with alighting ledges for each tier. The potence and ladder are in complete working

order . The walls are three feet thick , the roof

b a le ad - tiled , and surmounted y coveredcupola

- upon which is a weather vane . Wecan r e ca llt he storyofa feast atwhich the

choicest wine was served the last . Old coach

men , consciousofatiredteambeforethem , were wont so to husband its strengthand speedas to “ ” keep a trot for the town . So , on like plan , a certain Dorset dovecote is reserved to be the lastrecorded inthe Englishsectionofthisbook ; be au t i n i t a dovecotewhich , did it possess no y f self, would yet Claim notice , even af ection , on 2 28 ’ M E OMBE D OR S E B I N C HAM S LC , T

2 2 8 . F a ce p.

BOO K O F DOVECOTES

beauty , and , whendeath beckoned , gavehislast Old look tothe garden that he heldso dear . For Bosworth Smith himself has told us surely all there istotell ofhouseand gardeninthatfascin B i d L i a n d B i r d L or e v r e . ating olume , f “ S O let us come at once to where , further on i I s a c rrcu la r aga n , dovecote ofstone withoutan angle in the whole , walls , roof, or top such as nowell - conditioned manor - house ofthe E d wards o r the Henryswouldwillinglyhave been A li t t le without . cavalier , this treatment ofthe u n building , we may think , for it is one of no A common charm . nd yet we cannot doubt its owner loved it , as he loveditsinmates , lovedthe magpies , ravens , owls of which he wrote with such appreciative pen . To us at least the building seems one not to be passed lightly by. On entering into owner ’ o f ship Bingham s Melcombe , the newoccupier foundthe dovecote muchdilapidated , andforth re with restored it with a care itwell deserved , modelling the whole upon an old design . It is Of a circularbuilding brickand stone . The roof, its slope ofmost alluring grace , is covered with d e li ght f u lo ld stonetiles and crownedbya small 2 3 0 DO RSET

open cupola , poisedonpillarsmanyand slender .

The walls are three feet thick , the doorwaynot I particularly small . nside are several hundred

L - shaped nests . There is a subtle air of both antiquity and grace about the Bingham ’ s Mel u nﬁt t e d combedovecote , rendering it tobeany i n where than its own peculiar place . Beauty at Bingham ’ s Melcombe— thither have we wandered by a long and devious road ’ from Garway s rugged walls ; and here our sur v e o f y some Englishdovecotes ends . Turnnow

to what awaits us north of Tweed .

C H APTER E I G HTEEN TH E SCOTTI S H “ DOOCOT ”

N OR was the court without its ornaments .

- - In one corner was a tun bellied pigeon house , of great size and rotundity , resembling in ﬁgure and proport i on the curious ediﬁce called ’ Arthur s Oven , which would have turned the brains of all the antiquaries in England , had not the worthy proprietor pulled it down for

m e ndi n a n e i hbo u ri n - the sake of g g gdam dyke . colu mba r i u m This dovecot , or , as the owner called it , was no small resource to a Scottish laird of that period , whose scanty rents were eked out by the contributions levied upon the b the s e co n scri farms y light foragers , and the p tions enacted from the latter for the beneﬁt of ” the table .

In the above words , familiar to every reader as part ofthe description ofthe entrance - court T ull v e o la n at y , Scottmakesusacquainted with “ ” a very common form of S cottish doocot , as well as with the purpose of its erection . Nor , ’ unfortunately , is the fate which befell Arthur s

Oven one invariably escaped by dovecotes , 2 3 5 BOOK O F DOVECOTES

whether they lie north or south of Tweed .

The rectangular variety , equally common ,

- with its single slope of lean to roof, is also ’ The known in ﬁction . In Mrs . jacob s story , I n te r /op e n we are introduced to the dovecote c of Morphi , andaremadespectatorsofthe ﬁght which there took place between the hero and

- b - the would e pigeon thieves . It is clear that in this case the building was of the rectangular “ - — type , with its gables crow stepped corbie ” — stepped , in Scottishphrase and ornamented withstone balls upon the summit ofthe roof . A net is employed by the depredators , who throw it over the entrance - holes in order to secure the birds as they ﬂy out . This was a common method of catching the pigeons in legitimate fashion , and on some Scottish dovecotes iron hooks to which the net was fastened may be seen . ’ The N e w Again , in Neil Munro s novel , R oa d D ri mdo rra n , the dovecote of is a central feature in the scene . The attack upon the dovecote of Mo rphi e was an offence liable to severe punishment ; nevertheless it was , without doubt , a frequent 2 3 6

BOOK O F DOVECOTES the chalder being equivalent to sixteen “ bolls Of one and a quarter hundredweight each . The dovecotewasto bebuilt within two miles ofthe ’ — owner s land a provision which seems more liberal to him than t o the holders of the inter v e n i ng ﬁelds ; and only one might be so built for the amount of land named . No limit was placed upon the S ize ofthe bu i ldi ngo r upon the n u mbe r o f its occupants , though on thesepoints a court would perhaps be open to reasonable A argument . dovecote , once built , was not liable to demolition merely because , in chang ing hands , it had passed into the possession of an owner who had not the stipulated acreage ofland ; nor , even if condemned by law as hav

ing been illegally erected , need it be destroyed

entirely , the simple blocking of the entrance

holes being deemed sufﬁcient satisfaction . It is probable that the statute named was rendered necessary by recent increase in the

number ofexisting dovecotes . More than one example shortly to be seen datesfrom the clos

ing years of the sixteenth century , and many

others are certainly of the same period . Some

of those so dated are circular , others oblong; 2 3 8 SCOTTI S H DOOCOT so that it is a moot point which of these forms i n was ﬁrst employed . Remembering the case E n land t he alm f o r ant i u i t wo u ld be a w a rd g , p q y c d to the circular examples , were it not that many of the others S how clear signs of a great age . Nor , although the oblong and thecircular are the main types , is Scotland lacking in

modiﬁcations of both . To some few Scottish “ ” the doocots reader is now , without further delay , to be introduced .

CH APTER NINETEEN IN A N D A ROUND EDIN BU RGH THE Southron who arrives in Scotland by the East Coast route will not lack evidence as he “ draws near to the grey city of the North ,

- Cle a rl s e e n thathehas entered dovecote land . y from the railway carriage is anoblong example

between Drem and Longniddry , serving , in conjunction with a circular dovecote in a ﬁeld

immediately west of Prestonpans station , to

illustrate the two chief styles . Both of these dovecotes will be noticed later on ; meanwhile letus seewhat Edinburghandher suburbs have

to show .

And here the visitor , however poor be his pedestrian powers , is at little pains to carry out

a t ra m - hissearch . Lethimboard cargoingsouth

from the Register House , and travel on it to

the terminus at NetherLiberton . There , bare l y ﬁfty yards away , between the forking roads , he sees a high bare wall ; viewed from the

southern side the dovecote stands revealed .

It is a very large and massive building , a S most excellent example ofits kind . The hape 2 43 BOOK O F DOVECOTES

- is oblong , with a lean to roof which , as often

- the case in this type , is broken half way down u e r and into two separate planes , forming an pp a lower slope ; the slope of course is almost al ways towards the south as here ; and entrance holesfor the birdsare provide dunder the eaves of the upper slope , in addition to a row at the topofthe south wall . It is a pity that , while the upper section ofthe roofis tiled , the lower half has been renewed with slates . The building is divided into two equal and entirely identical compartments , each entered by a massive door placed on the outer edge of rough stone walls full three feet thick . The a lo ck b h e av door is secured , not only by , but y y iron bars , which , ﬁtting over staples , are held f i n t i s i t i o n as t he r o . p byanuprightbar Further , ’ on the wall s inner edge there is a second door . Clearly the Scottish doocot was regarded as a treasure to be held secure . The nests inside are plain rectangular re

L - cesses , those of shaped form being practic allyunknown north ofTweed . There are about three hu nd re d i n thehigheror north w allo f each compartment , rather fewer on the south wall 244

BOOK O F DOVECOTES disturbed . Ifthisexplanation beaccepteditcarries with it the conclusion that the Scots were more a d v a nce d in the theory and practice ofsuccessful

- pigeon rearing thantheir English neighbours , and indeed than their French friends . Yet it is strange that the religious orders of both

- Franceand England , skilful dovecote builders as they were , should seemingly have missed this point .

There is indeed an alternative theory , which , much as it might have suited Dr . john son , is not one to hazard lightly , much less to accept . Still , is it possible that , Scotland pos sessing more thieves than England , care was taken that at least all the eggs should not be — placed in one basket ; that dovecote breakers b t wo should be faced y good sets of doors , and “ not one only , if they wished to sweep the board ” ? From Liberton it is a short and pleasant stroll to the beautifully placed ruin of Craig

millar Castle , where , however , the small nest lined tower in the outer courtyard wall is of no very striking interest . The nests have doubt 2 46 A ROUND EDINB U RGH less been in place for many years ; but it is questionable if it was for pigeons , rather than

- - as a look outstation or advanced post , that the tower was designed .

For those who care to see , not a true dove cote , but an ancient tower which has been adapted to that use , the walk may be con tin n ed down the Dalkeith Road until the little w to n is nearly reached . Upon our left , at

Sheriffhall , among a group ofpleasant houses , is a high square tower which has certainly formed part of other buildings .

It has been ﬁtted as a dovecote , being lined from ﬂoor to roofwith wooden nests . Further , not o nlyi s the wo o dwo rki nge n i o u slyarranged in octagonal form , but a potence , still in ex

c e lle nt . condition , will be found Unlike the more orthodox pattern , however , it carries its ladder in an absolutely perpendicular position , not upon a slope .

This dovecote is quite populous . Asked whose the pigeons are that make their exit with no little tumult as we open the old rusted iron door , the lady of the house at which the key is kept replies that she would fancy they 24 7 BOOK O F D OVECOTES “ D ’ ” must be the uke s . They are not hers of that she is quite sure . Nobody feeds them , no one seems to own them ; nor do they prey D upon the gardens close around . alkeith is in a highly cultivated district , and we feel that here again is room for doubt respecting any harm that a few score of birds may cause . For those who can spare time to wander farther south to classic Hawthornden , birth place and home of Drummond the poet , there is a very curious dovecote to be seen . A door way i n the clif fupon which stand the remnants of the former house , gives access to a passage leading to a group ofchambers hewn out ofthe solid rock . In one of these we ﬁnd the well which once supplied the house ; while in a sec o nd thro u h , g whose broad low window we look outuponthe lo v e lygle n andheartherushof the swift Esk , there are six tiers of rather shallow recesses , thirty in a tier, all quite obviously

- pigeon holes . The chamber goes by the name “ ’ Bru ce s li bra r a le s s d e li ht f u l of y, and many g place for study might be found ; although what

Brucewas doing at Hawthornden , and howex t rav e lli n li brar are tensive was his g y, questions 2 48

BOOK O F DOVECOTES at which it stands— the Hermitage of Braid

is hardly seen , so deep the glen , so dense the IS screen of intervening trees . The house full

ofhistory , even though the present one is but a century old ; its predecessor stood a little ’ B ut higher , on theglen s north bank . Skelton , ’ o f S co t s Mary Queen defender and apologist ,

lived in the present house , and Froude has sat a nd t a lke d A d a m la n ne d within the wallsthat p . The dovecote stands in the large sloping

- - kitchen garden , rarerock plantsfrom Salonika Of ﬂowering at its doors . It is oblong plan ,

with two compartments ; but , built at a later

period , when desire for ornament had grown ,

is pleasingly ornate in style . The coping ofthe high north wall slopes slightly downward from

the middle to each end , and bears three deco rat i v e urns , another being at the south end of

- either gable wall . The comparatively moder ateage of the building is further proved by the — small thickness of the walls two feet .

Returning towards the city , we might per

haps enquire for East Morningside House , a dwelling dating from a timebefore the present suburb had surrounded the large garden in the 2 5 0 AROUND EDINBURGH

midst of which it stands . Here is a dovecote , tall and square ; the lower part now used as a

- hen house , and the whole so draped with ivy that it is almost impossible to ascertain the S hape of roof. But still some fragment of its ancient purpose clings about the place ; from time to time a pair of pigeons settle in it for a season , rear a brood , and presently depart . If we now take a west - going car we shall

Mu rr a ﬁe ld reach y . Thence it is little more than a full mile to where , beyond the gates of that ! oological Park which 18 the p ri d e o f Edin burgh , lies the village of Corstorphine , with

a - - its quaint squ t towered , stone roofedchurch . e w Som fifty yards beyond it , in a garden hich wa s once a field , stands an exceptionally fine o t he r t e o f exampleofthe yp Scottish dovecote , circular in plan .

It is a large building , over eighty feet in circumference , and holding quite a thousand nests . The walls are about three feet thick , the domed roofhas a central opening , and the occupants were offered a second means ofen trance bya curio us littlewindow - shaped group o f holesplaced abovethemidmoststring - course 2 5 1 BOOK O F DOVECOTES A of the three around the house . bove each of the two lower string—courses the walls receive “ ” a slight set - back ; the third i s ju s t below the roof

Thisisan exceptionally handsomedovecote , and we love it none the less that from its a n cient walls the voice of pigeons falls upon our

a r t O - u i t e o u t o f ke e i n w i t h i t s e day . Q p g peace ful purpose is the knowledge that , close to the building , now the sole remnant of the former castle of Corstorphine , jealousy provoked a certain George , Lord Forrester , to kill his wife . From the Mu rra yﬁe ld tramway terminus it R av e ls t o n is but a short walk to , where , in a garden unrivalled in Edinburgh , among vast yew hedges , spreading cedars , dolphin foun o f e v e r tains , relics of antiquity y kind , we ﬁnd the last of Edinburgh dovecotes there is time

- to see . It is of oblong, two compartment type , an d v e r - ﬁv e y large ; quite twenty feet high , and long and broad in proportion . The walls are three feet six inches thick . The one compart ment is still open , though no longer occupied by birds ; the doorway of the second has for years been closed by a thick growth ofivy . 2 5 2

CH A PTER TWE NTY H A D D INGTON SH I RE

BOOK O F DOVECOTES compartment only ; the higherwall adorned by three stone pillars capped with balls . The gable - walls are crow - stepped ; painswere e v i d ently taken with the appearance ofthe whole . Now down t he hill until we reach the wind ing tramway running between Musselburgh ’ and Port Seton . Here , in a brewer s yard upon

the very margin of the Firth of Forth , are two

more dovecotes ; tall , not specially attractive o f w hi ch buildings , one at least is sliding down

the easy road to ruin . Theyare ofinterest from the fact that they stand close together— bare ly ﬁfteen yards apart ; a situation possibly ac co u nt e d f o r by the fact thattwo different abbeys

— - Holyrood and N e wbat t le formerly held

lands in the district .

Returning to the station , Tranent church is

visible upon the hillside , lying a mile away to

- the south east . As we approach it we shall see

the dovecote just below the churchyard wall . i s Old This ofspecial interest , being one ofthe est dated examples i n Scotland ; 1 5 8 7 is the

date upon the lintel , where we also make out “ ” n m V i t o un the a e D a i d S . Thereare the traces e ofanothe r name upon a stone a littlehigh rup , 2 5 8 H ADDI N GTONS H I RE which has ! all the appearance of being a frag ment ofgravestone . O The dovecote is of stone and blong , with a s i n l d o o r has be e n wa lle d bu t g e chamber . The up , and entrance is impossible . An ugly gap ing crack beside it tellsofthe damagewrought

- by subsidence , coal pits being now on every

- side , andone ofthe largest coal washingplants in thekingdom a prominent f e at u re o f the fore ground . It is a rather long and uninteresting road

which runs east from Tranent , changing from one side to the other ofthe ra i lw a yli n e by le v e l

crossings , and leading through the village of ’ Longniddry , with its Veterans dwellings just a shade too studied in their effort to be pi ct u r

- a - esque . At a largehomesteadhalf milebeyond Longniddry station we ﬁnd cottages much pleasanter to look upon than those too often seen on Lothian farms ; and a large dovecote occupies a chamber over the main entrance to

the yard . We are rewarded further when we come to

Redhouse , the tall ruin beside the line . The f a mi lar dovecotehereis oneofthe oblong type , 2 5 9 B OOK O F DOVECOTES but has some special features of its own . The pigeonswere accommodatedon an upper ﬂoor ; the lower story , with a very massive vaulted

- roof, is now used as a hen house , but was prob ably intended for a store . st o r i s o f The upper y two compartments , each originallyfurnishedwith a s e pa rat e doorplaced n e o f eight feet from the ground . O these doors co m m u ni c has been blocked up , an internal ation being made between the compartments .

Each is still lined with oblong nests , and each has in its vaulted roof an aperture . This is a very rare example of an upper story dovecote being in two divisions . The building was con structed with unusual strength and obvious

care , the vaulting ofboth ﬂoors being specially worthy of notice . From Drem station an undulating walk of some three miles will bring us to the village of A t h e ls t a n e f o rd n . On looki g up the slope that faces us as we descend the hill we see a dove o n cote the right . It stands belowthe churchyardwall; a build

ing about sixteen feet square , and seven feet six inches high to the lower of its two string 2 6 0

BOOK O F DOVECOTES o f a ro a ch t a ki n a t u rn pp , g tothe leftandanother to the right , we are soon at Gilmerton House , or rather at the steading , screened from the s m all la nt at i o n f t hi s roadbya p . Inthe middle o is a ﬁne circular dovecote of brick , which the grieve is far from unwilling to exhibit on r e quest . o ne u s t More modern than the j visited , it is insomewaysmore pleasing ; for , far from being

- deserted and in semi ruin , it is well populated A s t h e do o r o e ns and inexcellent repair . p tothe ke i e o n s turning of the y, p g swarm out through the small cupola that tops the dome - shaped roof; through the three curious little windows immediately above the upper of two string d o o r i t s e lf s o courses ; eventhrough the , urgent seems their haste .

Thebuilding , ﬁftyfeetincircumference , con wi th a o t e n ce tainsaboutelevenhundrednests , p in good working order . The storms and frosts Of winter have worked havoc here ; the coat of plaster recently applied has parted from the walls in places and hangs loose . But there is ’ here no danger of the dovecote s most - feared — foes indifference and neglect . We notice 2 6 2

BOOK OF DOVECOTES

lower buildings . U nfortunately these have been converted into cottages , and a chimney ’ now defaces either corner Of the dovecote s S higher ide . But , even with this unwelcome S addition , the building is imposing . The lope e n of the tiled roof is on two levels , with the

- trance holes , as usual in such cases , at the “ ” break . Resuming the main road we cross the ~ river Pha n t as s i e t he le f t and reach , a largefarmupon ,

a short half mile beyond the bridge . At the bottom of a lane leading to ﬁelds lying north o f east the steading is a very curious dovecote . The backgroundis we llwo r t h a glancebefore

- we give attention to the pigeon house itself. Beyond the ﬁelds that lie before us is thewind

ing river , and upon its farther bank is Preston w kirk , snugly ensconced belo a ridge of hill . That hill - S lope is a curious sight to eyes accus t o m e d rather to the verdant pastures of the English Midlands or Welsh Borders than to a bre a k Lothianlands . Fieldafterﬁeld , without

of intervening green , is red in spring with the ’ bare s o i lo f Britain s ﬁn e s t la nd ; golden in early

autumnwith the ripening grain . The eye may 2 6 4 PHA N TA S S I E S PO 2 . 1 . TT I ME R O N H OU S E F F N E S S H OU S E 4 . G L T 3 . LU HAD D I NGTON S HI R E

5 2 6 F a ce 1 . 4

B O OK O F DOVECOTES

French visitor or friend ; so strikingly does the unusual style of roof remind us ofthose raised ’ - againstthe mistral s blasts . The lean to , south ward - facing roofso often seen upon an Oblong s o rare i n Scottish dovecote , but England , gave a welcome shelter in a land where chill winds w e h av e blow; but here . one which combines the shelter of the lean - to roof with the main ’ building s rounded form .

The dovecote is a large one , the circum ference being sixty feet ; massive in structure ,

for the walls are four feet thick . The doorway

measures five feet high by two feet broad . In side are about five hundred nest - holes ; also a not uninteresting substitute for the usual pot f a d ence , perhaps deemed too di ficult of nice justment in a house which narrows markedly as the walls ascend . There is a fixed post ris

ing to the roof . Against it is secured a ladder giving access to a large proportion ofthe nests . Those at a still higher level are reached from a shorter ladder ﬁxed in the reverse direction

from that taken by the one below . In short , the Pha nt a ss i e i s dovecote at onewellworthseeing . Following the main road for two miles or 2 6 6 H ADDINGTONS H I RE

more , the railway ever on our right , we take ,

ﬁn e r - directed by a g post , a lane which leads us L am m e rm o o rs towards the and Spott . Spott is a place with interests ofmore kinds than one .

From Doon Hill , just above it , David Leslie S e t e mbe r m o rn i n once descended , on a wild p g , D to take part in Dunbar rove . Witches were 1 0 burnt at Spott in 7 5 ; and at this village , on a Sunday just three centuries and a half ago , the Reverend john Kello , parson of the place , strangled his wife with a towel , hanged her on the chamber wall in order to suggest the death being due to suicide , and then , leaving the manse and enteringthe church , preached calm l y to his waiting ﬂock .

The dovecote , easily discovered , is a well kept , typical example ; oblong and oftwo com a rt m e nt s e m p . The doorways seem modern la r e m e n t s ornam e nt a l i lla rs g , but the p standing on the higher wall are probably original .

A short walk takes us to Dunbar , and if the time is summer and the weather hot it is most likely that an inn and tea will be the visitor ’ s

ﬁrst thought , for we have covered many miles

- B ut u ﬁ to day . , natures f ciently refreshed , there 2 6 7 B OOK O F DOVECOTES is a dovecote close at hand that should not be passed by . Leavingthe High Street , let ustake the turning marked as Edinburgh Road ; keep

- o ut a look upon the left , or ask to be directed ’ to the Friar s Croft , a piece of land which once belonged to the old abbey of the place . Here , u rudelysho ldered bya telegraph post , isa large dovecote which is surely the ugliest in Scot land!

Ugly indeed , but curious ; for it is an oblong

- building , not , as usual , with a lean to roof, but o ne which slopes both north and south . More th e di re c over, the ridge runs across , and not in

tion of, the length . The slopes originally met

- d at a gable ri ge , still clearly to be seen . But at some unknown period an extraordinary addi “ ” tion has been made . The ridge was capped by an immense square - topped inverted wedge

of masonry . It was doubtless to support this formidable addition of weight that there were

introducedwithin two massive arches , crossing

from side to side , and built of a greyer stone t e than that of the main body of h house . The lower ends o f e a ch arch take the form ofa well

ﬁnished roll . 2 6 8

B OOK O F D OVECOTES

Simple and homely , the Tantallon dovecote has a beauty ofits own ; for its old roofis grass

w - gro n , and upon its crumbling string course blooms the gorse . It is of two compartments , S one still howing all itsnests intact , while in the other only those which lined one wall remain . Each chamber has an oblong opening in the roof. The building is some ﬁve and twenty feet in length by seventeen feet broad . A rather unusual feature is that the two doors are not , be as usual , side by side , that of one chamber

ing at the end . There is a good dovecote of similar form in

the neighbouring town ofNorth Berwick , near the station ; another in a ﬁeld below the Law ;

but neither need detain us long . Passing west ,

we come , after a walk of two miles , to Dirle

ton , a really picturesque Scottishvillage , where

the old gardens of the castle , with a splendid

holly hedge as one of their attractions , should ’ be seen . The dovecote built into the castle s garden wall is best viewed from the village

green .

It is a good example , circular , and buttressed

- to a point some half way up . There are three 2 70

C H A PTE R TWENTY ONE ELSEW H ERE IN SCOTLAND S E PE R S R E ME GGI N C H CA TL , TH HI

BOOK O F DOVECOTES

ﬂags , with sandstone quoins . The walls , some

- ﬁv e thirty inches thick , are twenty feet long by eighteen feet six inches broad , and twenty two feet high . There is a doorway with a bead

- I n and hollow moulding the western wall , and another at a higher level on the opposite side . “ ” On a stone in the south wall the date 1 6 7 7 is carved in relief.

- The building is two storied . The lower chamber is vaulted , the vaulting rising from a six - inch ledge two feet above the level of the

- ﬂoor. This was quite clearly a burial vault ; while in the chamber above are stone nest u holes for pigeons . This c rious combination is

quite possibly unique . S t e ns t e r At House , near Bower , is a some

whatdilapidateddovecote , seventeen feet three

s u are wi t h - inches q , aspanroofand crow stepped

- gable walls . The walls , three feet thick , are twenty - six feet high to the roof ri dge ; t he nests

of stone . OtherCaithness e xa mple s i n clu d e a be e hi v e i n shaped building the garden of Dale House , Halki rk wi t h - co u rs e s a he i ht near , threestring , g a nd a di a me t e r o f ofseventeenfeet , sixteen ; and 2 7 6 S R O M I S A N D C I H N E S S T A L , A T

F OR S E HOUS E CAITH N E S S

F a e . 2 c y 7 6 .

BOOK O F DOVECOTES

amples only in being square instead of oblong , the inside measurement of each wall being

- . be twelve feet The lean to roof is of interest , ing covered with large shield - shaped slabs of stone . The dovecote is of stone , the high back wall being rough - cast; this wall is fourteen feet in height , the front onesixfeet less . The thick ness is two feet . The two side walls are corbie a le d e stepped , and round theback andsides is g

- or string course four inchesbroad . Ontheback

- o f - wall appears a shield with coat arms , the latter so d e f a ce d thatthe o w n e r o f Pi t m u i e s has so far been unable to decipher it . But the date — 1 6 43 is clear . The house is entered through the south wall by a doorway with a pointed arch . Above this doorway , just belowthe eaves , there is a row of

- h o le s di v i d e d ﬁfteen entrance , from eachother by stone slabs . Inside are about ﬁve hundred

- nest holes . The most curious feature is the presence at each end of the front wall of a small circular tower , with a battlemented top rising slightly abovethe loweredgeoftheroof . Externallythe towers are identical in form , each being lighted 2 78 SCOTLAN D

w by a small glazed cruciform windo . But while the western tower is entered by a small door from inside the main building and is lined with ne s t s t he o t he r i s , onlyaccessible byan external door , has no communicationwith the dovecote , and contains no nests . That the designer should construct two towers for the sake of symmetry is easy to be understood ; less Obvious is his reason for con n e ct i ng one with the main building and insert ingnests , whileleavingtheother emptyand cut Thi s d o v e co t e thus re s e nt s u s wi t h a n o th e r off. p of those problems met with in our pilgrimage . In Perthshire a single example must sufﬁce — u s one which atones for youth by its unusual shape . It is the ﬁrst sexagonal dovecote seen since leaving the Herefordshire mansion of

Foxley , and datesfromtheeighteenth century. Me i nch It stands in the courtyard of gg Castle , a s e at nearErrol , ofthe Drummondfamily . The building is an upper story only , raised on six pointed arches which enclose an open space .

- The wide eaved slated roofis ofan ogee curve , culminating in a point , above which is a ship as

- weather vane . The entrance forthebirds isbya 2 7 9 BOOK O F DOVECOTES

“ ro w o f th e bo tt o m a d u m m holes , placed at of y

window with a pointed top . Pigeons are still the tenants of this most at

tractive cote . About ﬁfty pairs occupy it in the

- - breeding season , reinforced bynew comers to t e lls u s wards autumn , when , as the owner , wild pigeons seem glad to take refuge from the a t tacks o f the numerous peregrine falcons then

on passage . Fi f e shi re w e ﬁnd a co u n t Comingto , ystillrich

in dovecotes , though many have disappeared

since the close ofthe eighteenth century , when the numberexistingis stated tohavebeen three

a l cal a i n hundred and sixty . Therewas o s y gthat the usual possessions of a Fifeshire laird com “ ’ a 0 prised puckle land , a lump debt , a doocot , ” a la w le a — ri ch i n h e ri a n c e and p no very t . Two ofthose still remaining shall be noticed here as

being readily accessible . The ﬁrst is in the immediate vicinity of Old Rosyth Castle , an tower which , formerly standing on a strip of land which was an island

at high water , has now been absorbed into the

vast enclosure of the new naval dockyard , and

looksforlornenough , surroundedas it is by gas 2 8 0

SCOTLAND

containers , giant cranes , and miles of granite

quays . But happily the dovecote stands on the mainland in a little wood which slopes down to the shore ; and thevisitorcanexamine andeven photographthe buildi ngwithout ri ski ngli be rt y

or life .

It is an exceedingly interesting specimen , h rectangular in form , and covered wit a ridge

roofformedoflargestoneslabs . Thegables are

- — a corbie stepped , and veryunusualfeature “ ” i t s e lf able d each step is g , forming what archi “ t e ct s call a gablet .

Ov e r th e a v e r c u ri o u s re door is y ornament ,

s e mbli n a wi d e - o f bu f f alo g spreadingpair horns , butwith the addition ofa loop ineach such as is s e n i n s re a d i s f ar t o o e those oframs . The p great for them to be intended for the horns of S heep ;

- unless , indeed , the mason artist drew on his

imagination , or upon his patriotic pride . Our second dovecote stands at the top of Pi t t e n cri e f f u bli c ark Glen , Dunfermline , the p p presented to the town by the late Andrew Car m c egi . It is a large circular building with a pro e c t i n j gcornice , abovewhichthewallsarebattle d m e n t e . There is a cupola upon the roof. Over 2 8 I BOOK O F DOVECOTES thepointeddoorwayis a wi ndo w - slit in the form a u at ofa Greekcross , oneach side ofwhich is q re f o i l - i f opening , now blocked up with stone , O indeed , they were ever pen . Inside the nests f act i n are made ofwood ; this , spite ofthe quite usual style ofroofand cupola, make it permiss ible to doubtwhether the towerwas not origin allyi nt e nd e d foranoutlook rathe r t h a n a pi ge o n house . In Stirlingshire we will passover a goodcir cu la r dovecote at Dunipace , near Denny, in favour of something still better to be found at

Ban t a ski ne - South , a house on a hill side two miles from Falkirk . The house itself is not a centuryold andtheadj Oi n i ngquarrywhenceits stone was taken has been turned into a most

- charmingwater androck garden , whereasmall stoneCupid smiles upon the scene . But itis on the lawn beside the house thatwe shall ﬁnd the dovecote , which was spared from demolition when the former mansion was pulled down . u e r s t o r o nl lac e d Itisan pp y y, p upon the arch that formed the entrance to the former stables , and is octagonal , with a ﬁne ogee roof. In each of its eight walls there is a pointed window; 2 8 2

BOOK O F DOVECOTES w S indow , with another one of imilar shape w above . The arches are rather awk ardly cut o f f from the main body of the windows by the

- string course that runs round the walls . But the building is of striking appearance , and a small defect i ri the design can be excused by the unusual shape . It probably dates from the half o f middle or latter the eighteenth century .

It should be noticed that a potence is in place . The se co n d spe c i m e n i s i n t he ya rd a t D r u mry

Mains , near Drumchapel , and is a tall stone

bu i ldi n wi t h hi e d ro o f . E i ht e e n f e e t s u are g pp g q , it measures thirty to the eaves . About twelve

- dozen nest holes occupy the upper story only , the room below being perhaps intended for a

S - larder or a laughter house . The walls are — three feet thick , the doorway large eight feet by three . D ru m ry Mains was formerly held byPaisley A bbey , and the dovecote has been stated to be seven centuries old . This is a rather liberal estimate , but the building is no doubt of ripe old age . Turning still farther towards the west and south , we shall ﬁnd that a dovecote makes part 2 84 ME R TOU N HO S E B E R C S H R E U , WI K I

BOOK O F DOV ECOTES

stone , with walls three feet thick , a tiled roof,

- and crow steppedgables . It stands in a market garden , where may be seen some traces of a former castle .

Here , then , our present quest must end . Should this slight and imperfect survey of ex i s t i ngBritish dovecotesbringaboutanincrease

of interest in these buildings , and lead to the more careful preservation of the many which

now stand , forlorn , forgotten , and neglected , up chi e f o b e c t and down the land , then the j of this

little volume will have been attained . EX OF DOVECOTES D ESC RI B ED O R M ENTI ON ED

BOOK O F DOVECOTES

D OR S E T Co warne Co urt Ea rdi s and A th e lh am pto n H a ll l ’ Fox e y Bi ngham s M e l combe l Ga rwa M e l la sh Co urt y p ’ Ki ng s Pyo n (B utt H ouse ) Pi dd l e t re nthi d e Luntley Co u rt D U R HAM M anse l La cy M a rc e M uch He lle ns l , ( ) Gai n fo rd M o rdi fo rd (Old S u f to n ) S S E X ’ E R i cha rd s Ca stl e Ba rdﬁe ld Gre at n e a ra i ntre e S arne sﬁe ld , , r B B o cki ng (Th e D e an e ry) H E R T FOR D S HI R E ra te d H a Li t t e B x ll , l C astle H e di ngh am (Ch e lmsho e Co tte re d H o use ) N o rth chu rch (N o rco tt C o urt) Farnham (The R e cto ry) Wa lke rn M ano r Farm Ge sti n th o r e Th e M oat W m on d e Li tt e H a Fa m g p ( ) y l y, l ( ll r M a e ste a d Gre a t D ne s H a pl , ( y ll) H U NTIN G D ON S H I R E N e wpo rt Ti t Of tS p F e nstanto n (Gro ve H o use ) We nd on Lo fts H all K E NT GLAMOR GAN S H I R E D e tli ng (East C ourt) Ca e rphi lly (Th e Vann ) Far e i h a st l g , E Oxwi ch N C S H I E Po rt Eyn on LA A R

Ch urcht own M e o s H a GL OU CE S T E R S HI R E ( l ll)

E I E S TE R S H I R E Bi bury L C D i w th agl ng or A sto n Fla m vi ll e E lksto ne H ough t o n - o u - th e - Hi ll Na unto n M ON MO UTHS H I R E H A M PS H ‘ R E Ll anfai r - Di scoe d Basi ng H o use Llan th ony t ’e e S ‘ P rr H E R E FOR D S H I R E

N OR FOL K B ode nh am

B lli t re e n e ar We st on o , B osbu ry I NDEX

NOR THAMPTON S HI R E S OME R S E T

urto n Lati me B r am e We st C l , D a i n t ll g on D unst e r D e nto n I vyth o rn M anor H ar e sto n l No rto n - sub- Hamd on I sh am Pi lt on Mano r M e a rs A shb y S tok e Co u rcy (o r St ogurse y) N e wto n -i n - the - Wi o ws ll S tok e -su b - H amd on VV mi n o n ar gt Wi th am

F R D S H I R OX O E S U FFOL K Ch astle to n H o use ur d und s B y S t . E m Clatte rco t a nbur , B y Ki dd i ngto n S U R R E Y M i co mbe l - - Ki ngston o n Tha m e s M i nst e r Lo v e l N o rthmo or S USSE X

hi ton ou r t S p C Be rwi ck S tant on a rco urt H Cha rl e sto n Farm i r ; PE MB R OK E S H I R E Le we s Pr o ) Tre yfo rd Man o r Fa rm A ngl e (The Hall) ’ Trotto n I a nd I llt d s ri o r Cald e y sl (S t. y P y) Gu m re sto n f WA R W I CK SH I R E Ma no rbe e r C astle m to n n a s Co p Wy y te . ’ S H R OPS H I R E Hi llbo ro A sto n M unslo w (Whi te H o use ) Ki n w arton B o u rton H all M axsto ke B ro se le y (R o wt on H a ll) W E S TMO R L AN D Ch e twynd H ouse H a r e Le ve ns N e th e r l y , H e nl ey Hall WI L TS H I R E H unge rfo rd o i n b urne D u i Llanymyn e ch C ll g o c s ’ r ham a ard s Sh i pt on Ha ll C o s (j gg ) F ﬁe ld M an o r Sh re wsb ury (Whi te h all ) y i a rm Th o ngla n d s L a co ck (W ck F ) L di a rd Mi i c e n t Ti ckl e r to n H all y ll M a r bo o u h To ng Ca stl e l r g Wi co t Wyk e (The W o o dh ouse ) l BOOK O F DOVECOTES

WOR CE ST E R S H I R E Wad swo rth (Li ttl e Burle es) Walton H all Bi rli ngham B re tfo rton S C OTLA ND B ro ugh t o n H ack e tt A Y R S H I R E Cle e ve Pri o r (M an o r H ouse ) mbe rto n C o Cro ssrague lA bbey Co th e ri dge B E R WI C KS H I R E C ro pth o rn e (Mano r Fa rm) hi n i d D o rm sto ne (Bag E n d Fa rm ) C r s e D unh a m st e ad Edi ngto n Me rto n Ho us E lml e y Love tt u e Fl adbury CAITHN E S S H am sto ne o w S t e nste r H o use Hud d mgto n C o urt B e r ( ) H a i r Da H o u s Kyre Pa rk lk k ( l e e ) La th e ro n Fo rse H o u se Le i gh (C o u rt Fa rm) ( ) Li tt e to n S o uth S t ro ma Is a nd (2 ) l , l Wi c A c e r i To we r Oddi ngl e y k ( k g ll ) Offe nh am D UM BAR TON S H I R E Ombre sle y D o u alston Mi n avi e Ove rbury g , l g t D r um r M a i ns D rum ch a e S tau nton C our y , p l Wi c k ED IN B U R GH A N D S U B UR BS Wi ckh ampto n Corsto rphi n e i mi ar a st YOR KS H I R E C ra g ll C l e D a lk e i th (Sh e ri ffh all) orth Old H a Barf ll East M o rni ngsi d e H o use i o n D arr ngt H a wth o rnd e n Fu o d H a lf r ll H e rmi tage o f B rai d H twi c Gran e un k g Li be rto n N e th e r , L ath e M a n o r e l y Li be rto n U e r 2 , pp ( ) M ars e - b - th e - S e a k y R ave lst o n H o use ’ M onk s B re tt on FI FE S H I R E R i sh wo rth (Uppe r Cock roft ) R oge rtho rpe M an o r D unfe rmli ne (Pi tte ncri e f f Gle n) S ha rle sto n H a ll Farm R o syth Ca stle S nape Castl e FOR FA R S H I R E S oyla nd (Ki rk Cli ff ) S tansﬁe ld (E astwoo d Le e ) Pi t m ui e s

GREY OLD GARD ENS SERIES

A ser i es of bea u t if u lly i llust r a t ed boohs i n ten de d f or a ll w h o ha v e elt th e r m a a f o nti c suggesti v en ess of a n old g r de n .

D ecor a ti ve B a r ds b S s o E S E . K N ua r e octa v o , y ! I M I G , q , 20 0 a es s. n t ea h p g , 5 e c .

C O RN ERS OF G REY O LD GA R DEN S “ ” A selecti on of essay s expr essi ve of the a nti qu e cha r m of the pu r est of hu ma n plea su r es by w r i te r s r a ngi ngf r om john Ger a r d i n t he si x teen th cen tu r to R i cha r d lo Ga lli e n n e i n the tw en ti eth cen t u r w i th y , y , ht l tr ti r eig i lu s a ons i n colou by MA R GA RE T WA TE RFI E LD .

° A BO O K OF O L D SU N D I A L S 69 THEI R M O TT O ES

lect i on o nea r 0 i n scr i ti on s r om old su n di a ls w i th a i n A se f ly 35 p f , n

' ‘ i a b L A UN CE LOI CR S E i ht i llust r a ti on i n colou r t r oducto y ess y y O S . g s F E D R A M’ L IN GS a nd thi r t -si x d r a w i n s b WA R R I N G TON by A L R , y g y HOGG the nest r ema i n i n e a m les o old s u n di a ls i n th i s coun t r of ﬁ g x p f y .

GA R D EN OF THE RE D RE D MY , RO SE

ITK E N h t i ustrati o ns i n co u r b R E D T YLOR A Ei o F . . B R . y ! . . g ll l y A “ i h u ma n not M r A i lheu a u thor I n A a r den book w th a e . R . g f , of ” — a Ci t Ga r de n i s a n essa i st o the o en a i r a r ose oet who loves to y , y f p p p

h a c o n at u r e I n a n a r cadi a n en vi r on m en t he sets r ee hi s pr a i se t ef e f . f ” a r t o e lor e w i der i n te rests a n d t he Ga r den t he R ed R ed R ose t xp , of , becom es a leaf ) ! stage w he r e m or ta ls m eet a n d i n ter a ct ; a n d th ei r i n ter

i s r de n i n lot wher e love ste als a mon the r oses a n d a r a ct on f o m a epe gp g , g d h ou ts a r e tested b r ea li t en t gh y y .

f r 8va 2 a es buchr a nz net . Ex . . , 33 p g , , WILD SPO RT S A N D NAT URAL HI STO RY OF THE HIGHLAND S

B C R E S S T W h o n a n o s b O . t I nt o d uct d N t e y HA L . ! HN i r i y

th e h t Ho n . i r B R d co nta n S H E R E X E B a t . a n Rig T MA W LL, r , i

i n ﬁf t ust at o ns th t of h ch a re e o d uce d i n co ou g y ill r i , ir y w i r pr l r f o m ct u e s s E O M R MO R an d r pi r pe cially d rawn by G . D NH L A U E X E R R W S A . EDWIN L AND , . .

u a r to 1 a u h m t d n br n v e llu m 6 es b c r a o s . n e bou n i ow Q , 5 p g , , 3 ; ,

s n e t 3 3 . .

G A R D E N L O V E R ’ S B O O K S

The appea r a n ce of t hese boohs conf er s di sti n ct i on ; u ngr udgi ngca r e ha s been la vi shed on the i r p r od u cti on f r om t he choi ce of type to t he colou r of

h i k m r h r The a ea lto ever lover o a a r d en . I llu st r a ted i n t e s l a e . y pp y f G

colou r a n d a tt i a ct i vel bou n d n et . y .

A B K OF G A R D E N S I . OO

a e s . Ill ustra te d by MA R GA R E T WAT E R F I E LD . 1 40 p g

I I A B K OF OLD - W R LD GA R DE N S . OO O E S Ei gh t i llustra ti ons by B EAT R I C PA R ON S . I I I A R D E N MEM R I ES . G O

I R Y W . W I I SON . llu strati o ns by MA G. I V IN A C IT Y GA R D E N .

I us trat d b K TH R IN E ME R ON R . S . W . ll e y A A CA ,

T N F O U L I S PU B L S H E R . I . ,

1 R E R S S E S R E E O O 9 G AT U LL T T , L ND N R E E R C S R E E E B R 1 5 F D I K T T , DIN U GH

1 S B R O P CE BOS O U . S . A . 5 A H U T N LA , T N , Le R o Ph i lli s A e n t y p , g