Sunday 2 September 2018

Elegant dovecote

Dovecote in the Staffordshire Peak District

This dovecote sits in a field east of the Swainsley Tunnel in the Staffordshire Peak District.
Doves and pigeons are drawn to nest in dovecotes; meaning the owners could have another source of meat & eggs.
Apparently dovecotes were often built away from the lord’s main house and near a public highway, because they could act as status symbols: as only a rich man could afford them.
But this one is a nineteenth century construction, so it was probably designed as a decorative and elegant pastiche. It is certainly lovely in its simple way.