Dovecote At Killerby Grange

KILLERBY

1667/0/10008 (Southwest of) 19-FEB-10 DOVECOTE AT KILLERBY GRANGE

GV II Dovecote with ground floor storage, circa 1800

MATERIALS: Stone with brick detailing; pan tiled roof

PLAN: Roughly square

EXTERIOR: A two-storey building with a ground floor storage area and a dovecote chamber above, reached by stone steps on the north-east side. The doorway has a large stone lintel and contains a boarded wooden door. A circular window with brick surround is to the left. The steps to first floor have been placed against a blocked ground floor door. The storage area is accessed by an entrance at ground floor level on the south-west side containing a boarded door beneath a stone lintel. A centrally placed circular window in a brick surround lies above the door. A double course of landing perches run at a higher level around all sides except the south-west and a flight hole is located in the upper courses of the south-east side.

INTERIOR: The first floor chamber has 160 original nest boxes around all four walls. The timber roof structure is a modern replacement and a modern inserted wooden floor separates the dovecote chamber from the storage area below.

HISTORY: Killerby Grange and associated buildings including the dovecote are believed to date from circa 1800. The water pump to the rear of the house is marked with the date 1804 and the dovecote is depicted on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1895. It is possible that all of the buildings have earlier origins. The dovecote is thought to have been a tall single-storey building, which was later converted by the insertion of a wooden floor into a two-storey building with storage space below.

SOURCES: Pevsner, N. 1983. The Buildings of England: County Durham 2nd Edition revised by Elizabeth Williamson, pp. 344;Dovecotes: Oxford Archaeological Unit 1995 English Heritage MPP Step 1 and Step 3 Reports.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION DECISION: This dovecote with integral store of circa 1800 is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

• It is a good example of its type, which retains original external architectural features

• The building is a distinctive vernacular building type, recognised as an important component of farmsteads and country estates from the Medieval period to the late C19

• The dovecote retains at least 160 original intact nest boxes in the upper floor

• The building belongs to a distinctive group of farm buildings forming the Killerby Grange complex and has a strong visual association with the listed farmhouse