"Dovecotes of Nottinghamshire "
April 2007 Meeting Report
Guest Speaker - Eddie Woolrich
The April 2007 meeting of The Keyworth & District Local History Society was held in The Centenary Lounge, Keyworth, on 13th April, one week later than usual as the scheduled date of 6th April fell on a Bank Holiday this year. The subject for the evening was Dovecotes of Nottinghamshire and the guest speaker was Eddie Woolrich. The meeting was attended by a smaller than usual number of members, perhaps the subject didn’t appeal or maybe it was the exceptionally pleasant weather outside that put people off. Whatever the reason those who did attend were treated to an excellent presentation on a subject which, on the face of it, may have appeared rather unpromising.
Dovecotes, (or pigeon lofts), have a history that goes back to Roman times at least, though the oldest known example in Britain dates to about AD1000 and the oldest in Nottinghamshire to about the 14th century. Originally, only the rich and powerful were allowed, (or could afford), to build them: lords of the manor, clergy, monasteries and substantial farmers. Later these restrictions were relaxed.
Doves provided a source of fresh meat throughout the winter months before the introduction of turnips into crop rotations in the 18th century enabled farmers to feed their livestock, and therefore provide fresh meat throughout the year. From then on dovecotes declined in importance, though some were still being erected in the 19th century. Now they are not used at all for their original purpose.
It has been estimated that there are some 20,000 dovecotes in England. Of these over 400 are to be found in Nottinghamshire, though, it must be said, in varying states of repair from the almost perfect condition to those that are a complete ruin. Roughly speaking 400 dovecotes equates to two dovecotes per parish in Nottinghamshire but as usual figures can be misleading because their distribution is very uneven. For example 23 are known of in Laxton, though only four survive today, whilst none at all are known of in Keyworth. Most in Nottinghamshire are to be found in Bassetlaw and Newark & Sherwood, with relatively few in Broxtowe and Rushcliffe. It would not be unreasonable to suppose that many more probably existed but have now vanished without trace.
From the outside most dovecotes are small undistinguished buildings with no windows, a protruding horizontal course known as a ‘rat ledge’ to prevent rats climbing into the entry holes, sometimes with other horizontal courses acting as ‘sunning ledges’, and with ‘glovers’ protecting the entry holes, which are either at or near the top of the building. The inside walls are honeycombed with nesting boxes from floor to roof. These are frequently L-shaped in plan, with a recess on one side of the ‘entrance hall’
Dovecotes vary considerably in size and shape. The largest, on the village green at Clifton, contains 2,300 nesting boxes. The tallest is in a farmer’s field at Sibthorpe, the only one in the county classed as a Grade I listed building, and also one of five scheduled as an ancient monument. At the other extreme are some with only a few dozen nesting boxes. The most common shape seems to be rectangular, but some are circular, with conical roof (e.g. Sibthorpe and Thoroton) and one, at Barton-in-Fabis, is octagonal. A few are external – i.e. they occupy an external wall of a building devoted to other uses, which is the case with the two nearest Keyworth, at Bradmore, (the gable end of a former barn, now converted into a private house), and Bunny, (beside the Rancliffe Arms). Another example is to be found in the cliff alongside Castle Boulevard, Nottingham, where nesting boxes were dug out of the sandstone, probably at the behest of the monks at Lenton Priory. One is located half-way up a church tower, at Upton – the church is a grade I listed building, perhaps in part because of its uniquely placed dovecote.
Dovecotes are made from a variety of materials. Because of the lack of good building stone in the county, most are of brick, but there are examples made of wood (Bingham and Morton), mud (Flintham) and stone (Normanton-on-Soar). The nesting boxes are usually made of similar material, but ‘mud-and-stud’ (horizontal and vertical timbers attached to a stone or brick wall by studs, around which mud nesting boxes were moulded), tiles, terra cotta and gypsum (the last at Barton, near the Gotham gypsum deposits) were also used. Many were probably roofed with thatch originally; the only example in the county still thatched is at Thoroton.
Access to the nesting boxes must have been by ladder, but few of these remain. In some cases, where the dovecote was circular, a ‘potence’ was installed – a horizontal beam reaching from a central pole to just short of the wall, which could rotate and be held fast. A ladder placed against it gave access to the nesting boxes as it was moved round. None survives in Nottinghamshire, but a Lincolnshire example was shown.
Conservation of dovecotes is often a problem. A few have been put to other uses: at East Leake one has been incorporated into a house, while the one at Wollaton village is now a community museum, exhibition centre and meeting room. Some near a house have been restored to become a garden feature, as at Thoroton. Sibthorpe dovecote is owned and maintained by Nottinghamshire County Council and is sufficiently remote to be left unlocked at all times for public access, without much danger of vandalism. But many are deteriorating and too expensive to maintain. The owner of the dovecote at Barnby-in-The Willows recently spent £40,000 on its restoration – few people are able or want to spend that kind of money.
All in all the presentation was thoroughly entertaining and provided an excellent insight into a subject which most of the audience had probably never considered before tonight’s meeting. Well done Eddie for providing the Society with such an informative, educational and entertaining talk.