Gazebo/Dovecote In Garden Of Bishop Oak

The gazebo/dovecote in the garden of Bishop Oak dates from the mid-18th century. It features incised stucco with ashlar quoins and dressings, while thinly-coursed rubble is revealed at the rear. The structure has a stone-flagged roof with stone ridges and stands three storeys tall with one bay. The ground floor includes a round arch with voussoirs on impost blocks and stone jambs, with 20th-century glazed doors added, along with side and overlights. The first floor has a renewed 12-pane sash window, and the second floor features a trompe l'oeil window in raised stone surrounds. The pyramidal roof is topped with ridge stone coping resting on moulded kneelers and has a stone obelisk finial with a chevron band. There is a banded chimney at the rear. The left side has an L-plan flight of stone steps leading to a first-floor three-panel door beneath the trompe l'oeil window, while the right side has a first-floor sash window with original wide glazing bars. The rear ground-floor arch is similar to the front. Inside, the ground floor room has stop-chamfered joists, and the first-floor room features a panelled rear wall with a dentilled cornice, a blocked corniced chimneypiece, and panelling to the left of the fire that conceals a ladder to the dovecote above. To the right of the fire, there is a cupboard with shaped shelves. The second floor and attic contain the dovecote with nesting boxes.