Dovecotes

The keeping of doves was one of the privileges of the Lord of the Manor. They were kept to provide meat in winter and feathers for mattresses and bolsters. A dovecote is a good indicator of the original status of a farm house. Dovecotes were often built into the loft or attic of the manor house or the gable of the barn.

From the Tudor period onwards separate dovecotes were built which were often large and elaborate. Inside the dovecote were ranks of nesting boxes, with a swivel ladder or “paternoster” to give access to the squabs (young birds) and eggs.

Cutaway diagram of circular dovecote.

Exterior & interior of square dovecote at Kentwell Hall.

Ruins of Medieval dovecote in Alciston,
a former grange of Battle Abbey

Nesting boxes in gable of West Pennard Court Barn former grange of Glastonbury Abbey

Dovecote built from mud daub in Tattershall Castle, Lincs.

Kinwarton Dovecote, Warwickshire,
rare 14th century circular dovecote. (National Trust)