Edinburgh, Frogston Road East, Mortonhall House, Stables and Doocot, interior. View of the interior of the Doocot from the South-East.

Description Edinburgh, Frogston Road East, Mortonhall House, Stables and Doocot, interior. View of the interior of the Doocot from the South-East.

Catalogue Number SC 565254

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of ED 10479

Scope and Content Interior of the Dovecot, Mortonhall House, Frogston Road East, Liberton, Edinburgh Mortonhall House, designed and built for the Trotters of Mortonhall in 1769 by the architect, John Baxter Junior, stands, surrounded by gardens and extensive parkland, on the north side of Frogston Road East. It has recently been converted into 13 flats. The interior of the dovecot is lined with tiers of square nesting boxes, each of which mimics a pigeon's natural nest site in a hollow in a rock face. The boxes provided a safe dry nesting environment, as well as easy access for egg collecting. Most 18th-century country houses had a dovecot to provide an all-year-round supply of pigeon meat (the dish of the day being pigeon-pie!) and eggs for the estate. The large quantity of bird droppings supplied manure for the vegetable garden. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/565254

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap