Walled Garden, Dale House, Westerdale

The site comprises a 17th or early 18th century dovecote and a probably early 19th century walled garden. The dovecote is a beehive-shaped structure built of rubble, divided into four stages. It features a wide, circular opening at the apex, serving as a pigeon entrance. The construction includes three courses of roughly dressed rubble and a stone coping at the apex. A low entrance is situated on the east side, leading to a slightly sunken floor with a low ledge encircling the base. From this ledge, 350 stone nesting boxes rise to the apex.

The walled garden is likely from the early 19th century and originally formed a square enclosure with rubble walls topped with stone slab coping. Entrances are located on the north and west sides of the garden. The west wall is broken to accommodate the dovecote. Elizabeth Beaton’s 1980 publication, The Doocots of Caithness, provides further information (p.7).