Essex Dove Houses (3)

In addition to the list of dovecotes in Smith’s book is the one at Berechurch Hall, featured in Essex Archaeology and History, Third Series Volume 25. Extract:

The dovecote of Berechurch Hall, Colchester

John McCann and Kenneth Robins

A roofless brick building formerly concealed by ivy has been identified as a dovecote. It was built in the Gothick style, probably in the early nineteenth century, and until recently retained evidence of a potence and nest-boxes of clay bats.

Donald Smith's major work 'Pigeon Cotes and Dove Houses of Essex', published in 1931, described and illustrated 59 examples in the county, all he could find after extensive .enquiries. Seven others came to his notice later, which he reported in Essex Review, volumes 42-4 (1933-5). Another dovecote has come to light more recently. A building south of Berechurch Hall Road, Colchester (TL 989 218) first came to the notice of D.F. Stenning about 1982, at which time it was unidentifiable owing to a thick growth of ivy. By 1991 the ivy had been removed, and the building became the subject of a planning application; Stenning then recognized it as a dovecote. …