Aberdour, 6 Sands Place, Dovecot

NT18NE 13.01 18742 85172

(NT 1873 8517) Dovecot (NR)

OS 6" map (1966)

This rectangular dovecot, which dates from the late 17th or early 18th century, measures 12'11" x 9' 10" externally. The walls are of harled rubble and the roof is pantiled.

RCAHMS 1933, visited 1928

This dovecot is now in poor condition; its roof is dilapidated.

Visited by OS (AC) 11 March 1959

No change to previous field report.

Visited by OS (BS) 17 December 1975.

Square-plan lectern dovecot. Random rubble, harled in places, dressed quoins. Stepped stone rat course/alighting ledge in parts Entrance to SW buried in land slip to below central stone door lintel, renovated relieving arch above. Remnants of rat course/alighting ledge in parts. Plain NW and SE walls with stepped rat course/alighting ledge. Square opening to left of NE elevation. Crowstepped gables, partially moulded skewputt to NW elevation, formerly pantiled lean-to roof, now roofless, (2002). Interior infilled with land slip and vegetation.

Aberdour and surrounding lands is divided between the old feudal estates of the Earls of Morton (Easter Aberdour) and the Earls of Moray (Wester Aberdour). It is one of 3 dovecots within the village, several others being found outside the village in the parish (see separate listings). The dovecots throughout the parish served the Moray and Morton estates, not only acting as valuable sources of meat and manure but also as visible symbols of the wealth and status of the landowners (after 1617 only landowners who had considerable lands were permitted to build dovecots). The dovecot is situated within the grounds of 6 Sands Place (see separate listing), a former alms house set up by the Countess of Moray in 1712. The proximity of the dovecot to 6 Sands Place suggests some form of relationship, it is possible that the residents would have had the task of maintaining the dovecot. Despite its ruinous appearance and being setback from the main road the dovecot is an important visual landmark along the High Street. In 1979 when the dovecot was previously surveyed it was said to contain 396 stone nesting boxes. (Historic Scotland)