Dovecote, Pauntley Court

The Dovecote at Pauntley Court dates from the 17th century and is constructed of coursed, squared stone with a tiled roof. It has a square shape with gabled faces and consists of two floors plus a cellar. The facade facing the drive features a plain plinth at ground level that extends around the entire building.

There is a central boarded door with a cat hole set in a heavy timber frame, accessed by three stone steps. The door has a flat head, a three-piece lintel with a projecting keystone, and dummy joints that mimic voussoirs. On either side of the door are two-light timber windows; the left window has vertical bars and a rebate for leaded lights, along with an internal boarded shutter. The lintels of the windows are similar to that of the door, but the keystone on the left is flush, while the right has been replaced with brick. A slit to the cellar on the left side has been partly built up.

The gable ends are slightly set in from the corners and feature a square glover at the intersection of the ridges, which is faced with corrugated iron and topped with a pyramid roof and wooden finial. The ground falls away to the back, where there is a cellar door in the center with an elliptical head and double ovolo moulding, supported by a brick arch internally. The lower parts of the sides are cut back for barrels, and there are slits on either side, with the left one built up. Above the cellar door is a single window similar to those on the front.

Originally, access to the top floor was from the left return via a doorway that has now been built up, which was reached by a ladder. Inside, the ground floor has plastered walls with a window on each wall and two beams overhead. The top floor of the dovecote contains brick nests with projecting ledges on the insides of the gables. The structure has a single truss across the building, with a tie beam, collar, angle struts, and principals that stop above the collar, along with two pairs of purlins and a square ridge. The glover is louvred, allowing access for birds, presumably through the windows, unless the louvres are a later alteration. This dovecote forms part of a group with the Court, stable, church, and mill.