Description

Circa 1810. Unusual circular dovecot with finialled conical roof and low, symmetrical, rectangular-plan, pavilion-roofed wings, sited to NE of Auchernach walled garden; converted to silo, now ruinous. Snecked rubble with contrasting squared rubble long and short margins and quoins. Ashlar band course and slate alighting ledge, early grey slates.

FURTHER DESCRIPTION: entrance to S with later concrete shaft projecting over doorway. Henhouse pavilion wing to W (roof largely intact) with centre door and small hen entrance close to ground at right; interior with nesting recesses. Wing to E ruinous.

Statement of Interest

Auchernach dovecot is a good example of an early style, and an important element in the compact policies which would have incorporated house, walled garden, cottage, mill steading and lodges. Lieut General Nathaniel Forbes replaced the old house, retaining some of the earlier fabric, and built the outstanding walled garden in 1809. However, it is quite possible stylistically for the dovecote to pre-date these additions. Although abandoned for many years, the dovecot is remarkably intact and the silo conversion is reversible. The new owner (2005) plans to restore the dovecote and the walled garden. In his introduction to The Geology of Auchernach, W Douglas Simpson describes the 'old dovecot' as 'a plain, rubble built cylindrical structure, with a conical roof. There are two string courses, the lower one built with unmoulded projecting granite stones, like a blocking course, while the upper one is formed by a row of slates. On the apex of the roof is a 'stang' with a cock. The dovecot measures 24 feet in height to the wall-head, and 11 feet 5 inches in diameter, within walls two feet thick. From the style of its masonry with the frequent use of small horizontal pinnings, it is not impossible that this dovecot may be as old as the seventeenth century. On either side of it are quaint square office-houses with hipped roofs'.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17780057

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Yorkshire: York and the East Riding (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Dorset (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Development and Design of Heritage Sensitive Sites: Strategies for Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair by Hunt. Roger ( 2008 ) Hardcover
• 
  The Listed Buildings and Other Principal Structures at the Royal Gunpowder Mills Waltham Abbey
• 
  Cornwall (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)