Edinburgh, Dovecot Road, Dovecot View of entry-holes

Description Edinburgh, Dovecot Road, Dovecot View of entry-holes

Date 1941

Collection Records of the Scottish National Buildings Record, Edinburgh, Scotland

Catalogue Number SC 565835

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of ED 9243

Scope and Content Detail of Corstorphine Dovecot, Dovecot Road, Corstorphine, Edinburgh Corstorphine Dovecot, a 16th-century structure, stands near to the site of Corstorphine Castle, the 14th-century former stronghold of the Forrester family. Although the dovecot is not as old as the castle, it was undoubtedly associated with it. This dovecot, shaped like a beehive, is divided horizontally by three string-courses. Above the middle course in the south wall are six entrance holes, also beehive-shaped, to allow the birds access to the nesting boxes inside. The dovecot, with 28 tiers of stone boxes accommodating 1,060 pairs of nesting birds, provided an all-year-round supply of meat and eggs for Corstorphine Castle, and offered pigeon pie as a tasty alternative to salted beef in the winter. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/565835

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap