Publication Account
Date 1985
Event ID 1016562
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1016562
This well-preserved lectern type dovecote now lies within a 1950s housing estate, but formerly it stood in the grounds of West quarter House which was demolished to make way for the new houses. It is rectangular on plan with a perching course for the pigeons running right around the building above the level of the door. The side walls are crowstepped half way up the upper portion of the roof and above this there is a parapet topped by scrolls and pilasters with ball finials at the corners. There are two rows of openings for the birds-a set of three above the door and a set of six halfway up the roof. Between the lower set and top of the doorway there is an heraldic panel dated 1647 which bears the initials of Sir William Livingstone of West quarter and his wife Dame Helenore Livingstone, who were married in 1626. At first sight this would seem to suggest that the dovecote was of mid 17th century date, but on architectural grounds this is unlikely, and it is probable that the panel either belonged to an earlier dovecote, or was brought from a different building altogether. In the interior there are the remains of several hundred nesting boxes, but the potence (a ladder which rotated around a central pivot, giving access to all the boxes) is missing, its position being marked by a circular socket in the centre of the floor.
For other examples of dovecotes see Newark Castle (no. 26), Crossraguel Abbey (no. 54) and Dunure Castle (NS 252158).
Information from ‘Exploring Scotland’s Heritage: The Clyde Estuary and Central Region’, (1985).
