Dovecote At Amwellbury Farm 30 Metres North Of Amwellbury Farmhouse

The dovecote at Amwellbury Farm, located 30 metres north of Amwellbury Farmhouse, dates from around 1700. This octagonal brick structure features a steep old red tiled roof and a door on the south side. The brickwork is laid in an irregular Flemish bond with random black headers, and there are stucco strips at the angles of the walls and roof, as well as around the round doorway. The walls are 13 inches thick, reddened, and tuck-pointed in the 19th century. Below the moulded wooden eaves cornice, there is a wide plaster cove. The steep octagonal tiled roof has bellcast eaves and an octagonal timber louvre, which includes a ledge and three holes on each face with diagonal lattice infill. The roof is topped with a steep octagonal metal covering featuring angle rolls and a wrought iron wind vane on a ball. On the north side, there is a projecting plastered plinth where the ground falls away. Inside, there are rows of holes that extend to the full height of the dovecote, along with remains of projecting timber supports for nestboxes. The walls were originally plastered, and there is a lath and plaster underceiling to the roof, supported by a single tie-beam with a stopped chamfer and a central hole in the soffit for a now-missing revolving ladder. The northeast face has collapsed below the cornice level. This historic brick dovecote is associated with the manorial centre and is part of a picturesque group at Amwellbury.