The Bruton Dovecote is a limestone tower that was built between the 15th and 17th century in

Bruton Bruton ( ) is a market town, electoral ward, and civil parish in Somerset, England, on the River Brue and the A359 between Frome and Yeovil. It is 7 miles (11 km) south-east of Shepton Mallet, just south of Snakelake Hill and Coombe Hill, 10 ...

in the English county of

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

. The structure was once used as a dovecote, and may have been a watchtower or prospect tower prior to this. It is a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

and

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

. It has been associated with

Bruton Abbey Bruton Abbey in Bruton, Somerset was founded as a house of Augustinian canons in about 1127, and became an abbey in 1511, shortly before its dissolution in 1539. It was endowed with manors, churches and other properties in the area and also in ...

and the Berkley family who owned the estate after the

dissolution Dissolution may refer to: Arts and entertainment Books * ''Dissolution'' (''Forgotten Realms'' novel), a 2002 fantasy novel by Richard Lee Byers * ''Dissolution'' (Sansom novel), a 2003 historical novel by C. J. Sansom Music * Dissolution, in mu ...

. It is known that the conversion to house pigeons and doves took place around 1780. It was acquired by the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

in 1915 and they have managed the site since then undertaking restoration work.

History

Though the Bruton Dovecote's date of construction is not known precisely, the structure was built some time between the 15th and 17th century. Architectural historian Lydia Greeves suggests that the building was once within the deerpark of

and was adapted by the monks from a

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

d Tudor tower. However, John and Pamela McCann, authors of ''The Dovecotes of Historical Somerset'', claim that the structure was not built until after the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 1530s. The authors claim that the Berkley family, who acquired the lands of the Abbey, constructed the building as a

prospect tower Prospect Tower is a folly on the Cotehele Estate. It has three sides and is 60ft high. When the National Trust was given the Cotehele Estate in 1947 the Trust renovated the tower and constructed a wooden spiral staircase inside, to allow visitors ...

Dendrochronological Dendrochronology (or tree-ring dating) is the scientific method of dating tree rings (also called growth rings) to the exact year they were formed. As well as dating them, this can give data for dendroclimatology, the study of climate and atmos ...

dating commissioned by the

found that timber in the door and window frames came from trees felled between 1554 and 1586. The conversion to be a dovecote took place around 1780. Pigeons and doves were an important food source historically kept for their eggs, flesh, and dung. Although it is now a roofless ruin with some of the windows blocked up, it previously had a chimney and the fireplace can still be seen. The National Trust acquired the

freehold Freehold may refer to: In real estate *Freehold (law), the tenure of property in fee simple * Customary freehold, a form of feudal tenure of land in England * Parson's freehold, where a Church of England rector or vicar of holds title to benefice ...

from Sir Henry Hugh Arthur Hoare of the

Hoare baronets There have been four baronetcies created for people with the surname Hoare, one in the Baronetage of Ireland, one in the Baronetage of Great Britain and two in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. The second holder of the third creation was r ...

, whose family seat was at Stourhead, in 1915. The tower was subsequently designated as a

in 1953 and a

(Grade II*) in 1961. In the 1980s the dovecote was inspected as part of an investigation into an outbreak of psittacosis (also known as parrot disease or parrot fever), a

zoonotic A zoonosis (; plural zoonoses) or zoonotic disease is an infectious disease of humans caused by a pathogen (an infectious agent, such as a bacterium, virus, parasite or prion) that has jumped from a non-human (usually a vertebrate) to a human. ...

infectious disease An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable di ...

caused by the

bacterium Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were amon ...

'' Chlamydophila psittaci'', at the adjoining King's School. No cause was found for the infection. In 2010

restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

work was undertaken including repairs to the tops of the walls; these are exposed as the building no longer has a roof. Wall ties were used on the south west corner where the masonry was bulging. In addition, car parking and educational signage was provided. This was partially funded by

South Somerset South Somerset is a local government district in Somerset, England. The South Somerset district covers an area of ranging from the borders with Devon, Wiltshire and Dorset to the edge of the Somerset Levels. It has a population of approxim ...

council, Bruton Town Council and the

Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

to a total of £105,000.

Location

The dovecote stands on Lusty Hill to the south of Bruton overlooking the town. It is approximately south of the Church of St Mary, and south of King's School. It is on the Leland Trail.

Architecture

The square tower was built of local coursed

oolitic limestone Oolite or oölite (''egg stone'') is a sedimentary rock formed from ooids, spherical grains composed of concentric layers. The name derives from the Ancient Greek word for egg (ᾠόν). Strictly, oolites consist of ooids of diameter 0.25–2 ...

with

Doulting stone Doulting Stone Quarry () is a limestone quarry at Doulting, on the Mendip Hills, Somerset, England. At present there are only three quarries quarrying Doulting stone. The largest, The Doulting Stone Quarry, was producing building stone in Rom ...

dressings. The walls are thick at the base, and the tower is in plan. The doorway has an

ovolo The ovolo or echinus is a convex decorative molding profile used in architectural ornamentation. Its profile is a quarter to a half of a more or less flattened circle. The 1911 edition of ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' says:adapted from Ital. ''u ...

moulded arch which is high. This suggests a construction date in the late 16th or early 17th century. Another entrance was made for cattle to enter at a later date but this has been blocked up. Several of the windows have also been filled with stone. On the north-east face there were two-light chamfered

mullion A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid supp ...

ed windows on each floor while on the north-west wall they were one- and two-light windows. It has over 200 pigeon holes, which were installed after the original construction, possibly before 1780. Six tiers of nest boxes remain; however there were previously several more, possibly as many as 850. They are made of regular blocks of

tufa Tufa is a variety of limestone formed when carbonate minerals precipitate out of water in unheated rivers or lakes. Geothermally heated hot springs sometimes produce similar (but less porous) carbonate deposits, which are known as travertin ...

each around square and deep.

References

External links

{{Authority control Grade II* listed buildings in South Somerset Scheduled monuments in South Somerset Dovecotes Bruton Grade II* listed ruins

History

Location

Architecture

See also

References

External links