Dovecot, Ratho Hall, Edinburgh

The Dovecot at Ratho Hall, Edinburgh, is an early 19th-century circular garden house that has been converted into a dovecot. It is constructed from random rubble whinstone, featuring stugged sandstone dressings and whinstone pinnings. The structure is built into a higher ridge of ground on the north side and has a battered base. The main façade faces south towards the garden wall, featuring a narrow door at ground level and a large pointed arch window above. This window has a roll-moulded surround but is blocked with rubble whinstone at the lower level. There are wooden flight-holes at the center of the window and it is boarded at the upper level. A boarded door on the north side has a wooden lintel. The narrow pointed windows have stugged sandstone lintels and cills, with fixed timber cases.

A sandstone corbel course supports the battlemented parapet, which is topped with sandstone coping. There are metal reinforcing bands around the upper level of the dovecot and the battlement.

Inside, the dovecot is roofless and has a rendered interior that is in fairly poor condition.