Dovecote at Westbury Farm is a Grade II listed building in the North Hertfordshire local planning authority area, England. First listed on 27 May 1968. Dovecote. 6 related planning applications.
Dovecote at Westbury Farm
- WRENN ID
- dusted-latch-martin
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- North Hertfordshire
- Constituency
- Hitchin MP: Alistair Strathern (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 27 May 1968
- Type
- Dovecote
- Address
- Dovecote at Westbury Farm, School Lane, Offley, SG5 3FL
- OS grid reference
- TL 141 271
- Coordinates
- 51.93078, -0.34121
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The dovecote at Westbury Farm is an early 17th-century structure. It features a timber frame set on a red brick sill, with the lower part filled with red brick infill between the main posts and the upper part close-studded with narrow red brick infill panels. The roof is steep, covered with old red tiles, and hipped with large gablets that were once used for the entrance of doves. This tall, square building has two bays and faces north, situated in the middle of the farmyard, with gablets on both the north and south sides.
There is a stable door framed heavily on the north side. The dovecote has jowled posts at each corner and in the middle of the east and west walls, while the north and south walls feature unjowled posts. A mid-height rail is tenoned in-line, with long straight tension braces notched over the outsides of the studs at the corners. The central truss includes straight braces with a collar and angled queen-struts. Each slope has a single clasped purlin that serves as the base for the joist of the top loft, which has trimmed openings on each side of the collar of the truss. Inside, there are peg holes for fixing nest boxes, and the wallplate features an edge-halved scarf, similar to that found in the farmhouse.
Local climate
Dovecote at Westbury Farm sits in a drier-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 720 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 82% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 76% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 35 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 60% of listed buildings. Of these, 17 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- No EPC on record for this property
- Sale history — 2 transactions since 2002
- Related listed building consents — 6 applications
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.
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Nearby listed buildings
- North and East Barn Ranges at Westbury Farm Alongside School Lane
- South Range of Farm Buildings at Westbury Farm, Running from Westbury House to Road
- Westbury House Flats 1, 2, 3, 4
- The Pond Cottage the Pond House
- Barn to North West of the Green Man Public House
- The Green Man Public House
- The Bull Public House
- Vine Cottage
- Court House
- Walls and Gate of Walled Garden at the Lawns