Dovecot, Auchinleck House

This is a mid-18th century water tower or dovecote, located to the rear of Auchinleck Stables on the Auchinleck Estate. The building, which is square in plan, appears to have been originally constructed using red brick with cream ashlar dressings at the impost band and only on the architraves of the upper openings. The ground stage features an arcade with ashlar impost blocks and thin brick keyblocks, with a brick belt course running above. The east elevation has a large, blind roundel with an architrave cut into four segments, and a round-arched opening above, with an architrave divided into two pieces. The roof is slate and pyramidal. While its original purpose is debated, it's unlikely to have been a dovecote, as there's no accessible space for nesting boxes and no evidence of window ledges or flight holes. If it functioned as a water tower, this would be an early example of its kind. Information provided by the Scottish Historic Buildings Trust indicates this.