Widely believed to have originated in the Middle East where pigeons/doves were reared in large
numbers to provide a constant supply of ‘guano’ used as a fertiliser for fruit and other crops,
dovecotes are thought to have been brought to Britain either by the Romans, or more likely, by the
Normans. Doves have been kept around the world for thousands of years. In ancient Rome a dovecote
was known as a ‘columbarium’, in medieval France pigeonnier and throughout the UK as a culvery,
doocot or pigeon cote.

Evidence of some of the earliest dovecotes, built of stone and to a circular design, dates back to
the 12th century with examples having been found widely across southern England.

In medieval and Norman times the building of specially constructed pigeon houses (dovecotes)
for the breeding of birds, primarily to provide meat and eggs for the table, was a feudal right and
very much the preserve of the titled and wealthy. Evidence of early dovecotes and indeed some
lasting examples can still be seen in the grounds of castles, monasteries and manor
houses across Britain.

Gaining huge popularity in the 16th century and increasingly being built to more intricate designs
and shapes including square, rectangular and octagonal, dovecotes became a common sight
throughout the British Isles. In addition to allowing the mass breeding of birds for food (young birds
known as squabs, culled at about four weeks old, were a delicacy, as was pigeon pie) dovecotes,
often housing thousands of birds were also a source of prized manure, a constituent part of which
was saltpetre used in the production of gunpowder.

A gradual decline in production of pigeons for meat began in the 17th century on the introduction
of Turnips from Holland and their subsequent use as a rotational crop. Turnips provided valuable and previously unavailable feed throughout the winter for livestock that could now be kept and butchered
as required to provide fresh meat rather than being culled before the onset of winter.

While the commercial use of dovecotes died out in the 19th century something of resurgence has
been seen in the 21st. Now satisfying an extremely different purpose in the control of feral pigeons,
large dovecotes have been employed to provide artificial breeding facilities. Pigeons are encouraged to roost and breed with the resultant eggs being removed, thereby humanely controlling populations
to a manageable size.

Of course, dovecotes are now more frequently enjoyed as an aesthetically pleasing addition to the
garden used either decoratively or functionally to provide a home for smaller flocks of garden doves,
beautiful birds, graceful and acrobatic in flight and each with individual character traits that will
bring hours of amusement and pleasure to their owners.