Details

The monument includes the standing and buried remains of a dovecote 240m east
of Home Farm. It is situated in an alcove in the garden wall of Cottage Farm
but also extends into the neighbouring garden belonging to Broadmarsh House.
The monument is visible as two sides of a mud walled dovecote with the
northern side having been replaced by a brick wall and the western side having
been removed down to the present ground surface. The corner of the western and
southern wall is evident and indicates the plan and extent of the original
building.
The eastern wall is approximately 5.75m long, 1.8m high and 0.6m thick and the
southern wall approximately 3.10m long, 1.8m high and 0.6m thick. The external
face of the wall has a rough surface but part of this texture is due to the
presence of masonry bees which have been nesting in the wall for many years.
The dovecote is known locally as the bee wall.
Cut into the interior face of the mud walls are at least 81 nest boxes. These
are an inverted D-shape in profile and 0.15m high, 0.15m wide at the base and
0.3m deep. Holes in the wall suggest that each nest box originally had its own
perch but these do not survive and some of the holes marking their position
have eroded away.
Approximately halfway along the southern wall is a low doorway approximately
0.65m wide. The height of the doorway and the fact that the lowest course of
nest boxes in the southern wall are partially buried indicate that the
internal floor level was originally lower. It is possible that further courses
of pigeon holes survive beneath the current ground level.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
It includes a 1 metre boundary around the archaeological features,
considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

Dovecotes are specialised structures designed for the breeding and keeping of
doves as a source of food and as a symbol of high social status. Most
surviving examples were built in the period between the 14th and the 17th
centuries, although both earlier and later examples are documented. They were
generally freestanding structures, square or circular in plan and normally of
brick or stone, with nesting boxes built into the internal wall. They were
frequently sited at manor houses or monasteries. Whilst a relatively common
monument class (1500 examples are estimated to survive out of an original
population of c.25,000), most will be considered to be of national interest,
although the majority will be listed rather than scheduled. They are also
generally regarded as an important component of local distinctiveness and
character.

The standing and buried remains of the dovecote 240m east of Home Farm provide
a rare and well-preserved example of both a dovecote and the method of mud
construction. The interior, particularly the nesting boxes, the old ground
surface beneath the dovecote and any sub surface features will all retain
important archaeological, ecofactual and environmental evidence. Taken as a
whole this mud dovecote will enhance our understanding of the construction and
use of dovecotes in the area and their position in the wider landscape.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
Elevation and plan of mud dovecote, Mud dovecote Flintham, (1981)

Source: Historic England