Naunton dovecote

The dovecote stands south-west of the Manor House in Naunton, between the village street and the River Windrush. It is a square stone building of the sixteenth century or earlier, with a gable on each face and a lantern on top, and inside its walls are still lined with nest holes. Listed Grade II*, it is looked after by a charity, the Naunton Dovecote Trust.

History

A dovecote was a mark of a manor: the pigeons and their young, the squabs, gave fresh meat, and their droppings made manure. Naunton's dovecote went with the Manor House beside it, a large seventeenth-century farmhouse almost entirely rebuilt in the late nineteenth century. The Victoria County History records that William Hanks bought the house and its estate, dovecote included, from James Clark in 1857.

How old is it

The dates disagree. Historic England's listing calls it probably sixteenth century and possibly earlier, while the Victoria County History says it is reputed to be fifteenth century. Whichever is right, the listing calls it an excellent dovecote.

The rescue

By the middle of the twentieth century the dovecote had fallen into disrepair, and the Victoria County History records that it was restored around 1949. In 1998 the Naunton Dovecote Trust was set up as a charity to look after it, and its charitable purposes include public access to the dovecote.

What to see

The dovecote is a square of rubble walls with flush stone quoins under a Cotswold stone roof, with a gable on each of its four faces and a lantern light on the top. A drip mould and a plinth run all the way round, and each face has a single stone mullioned window. The Tudor-arched doorway on the south side is masked by a twentieth-century lean-to.

Historic England's listing records that the nesting boxes survive inside, under an extended collar truss roof. The Trust's own site puts the nest holes at about 1,200.

Visiting

The dovecote can be seen from the lane, which the Bourton walk follows down past it to the river. The Naunton Dovecote Trust opens the site every day in daylight hours, free of charge, with a donation box towards its upkeep. There are no facilities at the dovecote itself; St Andrew's Church, a short walk west, has toilets and is open most days from 9am to 6pm. Come in the morning, when the sun is on the south face and the village is quiet.

Getting there

From the B4068 above the village, turn down into Naunton. We found no public car park, so park on the village street considerately, without blocking gateways or passing places, or on the roadside verge on the north side of the B4068 about a mile south-east of the village, where the Harford Bridge walk starts, and walk in. In the village, the dovecote is down the lane marked No Through Road opposite the village hall, past the Manor House to the river. On foot, the Harford Bridge and Naunton walk makes the short detour down this lane, and the long walk from Bourton by the Slaughters and Naunton goes right past it. On the Guiting Power and Naunton walk it is a short detour from the route.

Nearby

St Andrew's Church is a short walk west along the village, and down the valley at Lower Harford are a clapper bridge and the earthworks of a deserted medieval village. The Black Horse in Naunton is the village pub. Up the valley, Guiting Power has the Farmers Arms, the Cotswold Guy and St Michael's Church, and to the east the castle mound at Upper Slaughter is another relic of a medieval lordship.