Wiltshire
dovecots 1359 to 1377:
Individual dovecots in a Wiltshire landscape
Niall
C.E.J. O’Brien
This article on
dovecots in Wiltshire in the second half of the reign of Edward III is based
chiefly on the information contained in the various inquisitions post mortem
conducted in the county during that time. This article follows on from other
studies of dovecots and will hopefully add to our knowledge and understanding
of these very medieval buildings. The layout is for an introduction to dovecots
and an individual account of each dovecot followed by a general discussion.
Introduction
A dovecot was a
structure intended to house pigeons or doves. Dovecots may be square or
circular free-standing structures or built into the end of a house or barn. They
generally contain rows of openings inside the structure for the birds to nest. The
rows usually start a few feet above ground level to prevent cats and other
mammals from getting at the birds. Pigeons and doves were an important food
source historically in Western Europe and were kept for their eggs, flesh, and
dung.
It is sometimes
difficult to know if a dovecot was for pigeons or doves. Occasionally documents
come to the rescue with an answer. In 1431 a run-down dovecot at Wantage in
Berkshire was worth nothing per year because there were no doves while another
dovecot at Tawstock, Devon, was also worth nothing because it had no doves. Dovecots were very much the preserve of the lord of the manor and the young doves, called squabs, were eaten in the summer months. Dovecots
were not just a place to keep birds for meat. The bird droppings was also
important as a fertilizer.
The Romans seem to have
had introduced dovecots to Britain as suggested by pigeon holes at Caerwent.
After the Romans left so it seems did dovecots. The Normans re-introduced
dovecots after 1066.
Aldeborne
(Aldbourne) dovecot
In 1361 the manor and
dovecot at Aldeborne was held by Joan de Warenne, wife of John de Warenne, late
Earl of Surrey, by grant of the king from the estate of the Earl of Salisbury.
The dovecot was valued at 3s 4d which was in 1361 the most common valuation for
a Wiltshire dovecot that was in use. Joan de Warenne had another dovecot at
Trowbridge (see below) along with other property in Wiltshire which reverted to
William de Montacute on her death.
In 1311 Henry de Lacy,
Earl of Lincoln, held Aldeborne of the inheritance of Margaret his wife of the
king in chief and formerly of the Earldom of Salisbury. At that time the
dovecot at Aldeborne was worth 4s per year.
Beydon
dovecot
In 1362 Robert de
Rammesbury held two messuages, a dovecot and a carucate of land at Beydon from
the Bishop of Salisbury. The Bishop of Salisbury held Beydon (otherwise called
Geydon) since before 1249. The dovecot in 1362 was worth 4s per year. Robert de
Rammesbury died on 7th October 1362 and was succeeded by his son
John de Rammesbury.
Bluntesdon
(Blunsdon) dovecot
At one time James de
Grundeswell held a messuage, a dovecot, along with 74 acres of land and 7½
acres of meadow at Bluntesdon of Roger Bavent of his manor of Norton. But after
the death of James de Grundeswell, Roger Bavent entered and occupied the
property without the king’s licence. Before July 1362 Sir Roger de Bavent
granted the manor of Norton, and other property in Wiltshire, including the
Bluntesdon property, to the King. The inquisition into the newly acquired crown
lands, held on 5th July 1362, failed to give a value for the
dovecot.
Borescombe
(Burcombe) dovecot
The manor and dovecot of
Borescombe was held in 1362 by Henry Peberel of Edmund de Cornwall. In 1362 the
dovecot was valued at 3s 4d per year. Henry Peberel was succeeded by his son,
Thomas Peberel.
Chesyngbury
dovecot
The dovecot at
Chesyngbury in Herefordshire was formerly recorded as in medieval Wiltshire and
for the purposes of this stud is included here as it was in the original
documents. In 1361 the dovecot was valued at 3s 4d but the valuation also
included a messuage and a garden and so the real value of the dovecot was less
than stated. In September 1361 John Brymmore held the dovecot, and other
property at Chesyngbury, from Humphrey de Bohun, son and heir of William de
Bohun, late Earl of Northampton.
Erdescote
dovecot
At the inquisition post
mortem for Peter le Blount, taken on 29th July 1361, it said he had
a messuage and two carucates of land at Erdescote and Wambergh held of the Earl
of Hereford. It then went on to say that the messuage and a garden were worth
nothing beyond reprises and the dovecot was worth noting because it was broken
down. The record does not say exactly where the dovecot was but I am presuming
that it was in Erdescote.
Avebury dovecot by Brain Robert Marshall
Fyssherton
dovecot
In 1377 Reynold Love,
merchant of London, acknowledged before Stephen Haymes, mayor of the staple of
Winchester, a debt of £95 that he owed Henry Jordan, merchant of Winchester but
Reynold didn’t fully pay the debt. Consequently the sheriff of Wiltshire was
ordered to value the goods, chattels and property held by Reynold Love in
Wiltshire to that the courts could seize the property in satisfaction of the
debt. The sheriff reported that Reynold Love had land, rents along with a croft
and a dovecot at Fyssherton (no value was given for the dovecot). The sheriff
said that John Mercer of Fyssherton, Margaret his wife and Stephen his son had
the dovecot and lands for the term of their lives. The total value of Reynold’s
property in Wiltshire was £11 16s plus the rents. This property was seized by
the sheriff and taken into the king’s hands until Reynold paid the debt.
In 1303 the dovecot in
the manor of Fyssherton was worth 3s per year. The manor was then held by Henry
Archer from the Earl of Salisbury.
It is not clear if this was the same Fyssherton where Reynold Love had the
dovecot.
Great
Chiverel dovecot
Before 1373 Geoffrey
son of Edmund Gascelyn, held the manor of Great Chiverel from Sir Nicholas
Burnell along with other property in Wiltshire from the king in chief. In 1373 he
leased part of the manor of Great Chiverel to Sir Ralph Cheyne for ten years at
a rent of £16 13s 4d but reserved certain parts of the manor. These reserved
parts of the manor included a dovecot, one chamber, one stable along with 4
acres of arable land and 1¾ acres of meadow. After the death of Geoffrey
Gascelyn the total value of these reserved parts was worth 6s 8d per year. No
separate value was given for the dovecot but because Geoffrey kept it for his
own use says that Geoffrey had a high personal value on the dovecot. Geoffrey
Gascelyn was succeeded by his daughter Christian Gascelyn.
In 1275 John de Balun
held the manor of Great Chiverel of the king in chief and the dovecot was then
valued at 4s per year. Sir Walter de Balun was John’s heir. The ancestors of
Sir Nicholas Burnell had inherited Great Chiverel from the Balun family
sometime between 1287 and 1292. In 1287 Joan Gascelyn held Great Chiverel from
Sir Walter de Balun with Edmund, son of Joan, as her next heir. The dovecot had
declined in value by 1287 and was included in the 3s total value given to the
capital messuage with the garden. Joan Gascelyn also had a dovecot at Shuldene
worth 2s per year.
Harden
dovecot
Thomas de Alresford
died on the feast of St. Denis in 1361 seized of houses, land and rents at
Harden by the service of keeping part of the Forest of Savernak, 10s in yearly
rent to Queen Philippa and doing suit at the king’s court at Marlborough. The
dovecot on the property was valued at 5s but this was included in the valuation
for the one messuage which Thomas owned.
Hiwyssh
dovecots
On Wednesday before the
feast of the Annunciation 1361, Peter, son of Thomas le Blount, died. In the
manor of Hiwyssh, which Peter le Blount held of the king in chief, there were
two dovecots. One was valued at 3s 4d but the other was worth nothing because
it was broken down. Peter le Blount also had a broken down dovecot at Erdescote
as noted above. Silvester Doynel, a brother of Peter’s mother was his next heir
but John de Cotteleye was promised the property as by a grant approved by the
king.
John de Cotteleye (also
spelt as Cottelegh) of Cherdestoke in Dorset succeeded to the property and well
needed it as at the time he was in serious debt. On 9th March 1361
John de Cotteleye acknowledged before John Pyel, mayor of the Staple of
Westminster, that he owed Gilbert le Despenser £500 with a promise to pay by 2nd
May 1361. But the date of payment came and went without the debt had been paid.
On 30th January 1363 Gilbert le Despenser applied to the courts to
recover the debt. On 4th March 1363 an extent of the manor of Hiwyssh
was made. The manor was worth £9 8s 4d plus twenty acres of sown grain which
was worth 40s. Of the two dovecots at Hiwyssh one was described as in ruins and
so worth nothing but the other dovecot was valued at 6s 8d.
This was twice the
value of the dovecot in 1361 and the pleas of the court had also increased
substantially from 3s 4d to 26s 8d yet the arable land had declined in value
from 4d per to 3d per acre while the area under crops had increased from 180
acres to 240 acres.
Clearly John de Cotteleye was trying to development the manor to get the
maximum income from the estate, possibly to pay his debts but the courts moved
in and took possession.
Kemele
dovecot
The dovecot in the
manor of Kemele was a large establishment and in 1361 had a value of 10s per
year, the highest value of a dovecot in that year. The manor of Kemele was also
of some size with pasture for 1,000 sheep. Giles Norman held the manor of the
king in chief and was succeeded by Margaret Norman, daughter of his aunt and
wife of John Chamberlain.
La
Frith
The dovecot at La Frith
(the field) was worth 3s 4d in 1361 when it was held by Thomas and Beatrice le
Brewes from the Abbess of Lacock. Thomas le Brewes also had a messuage and land
from the Abbess. The published Lacock Abbey charters fail to mention any member
of the Brewes family but there is a place called La Frith. This was at Uffcott
in Broad Hinton which Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford and Essex, gave to
Lacock Abbey about 1274. But, unfortunately there was no mention of a dovecot
at Ufcott. At his own property of Manyngford Brewes, Thomas le Brewes had a
dovecot in ruins (see below).
Manyngford
Brewes
Sir Thomas Brewes died
on Wednesday after the feast of St. Barnabas, 1361, and was seized of the manor
of Manyngford Brewes which he held in chief from the king. The manor appears to
be run down with the dovecot worth nothing because it was in ruins and the
capital messuage was worth nothing beyond reprises. John de Brewes, chivaler,
was his son and heir. The
next record for Manyngford Brewes to mention a dovecot was in 1430 but the
value was not stated. In 1430 Elizabeth, the wife of Thomas Slifeld, held the
property. Elizabeth was formerly the wife of George Brewes.
Thomas de Brewes, who
died in 1361, was the son of Peter de Brewes, son of William de Brewes. In 1327
Mary, wife and widow of William de Brewes, held the manor of Manyngford Brewes
of the Earl of Hereford. The inquisition post mortem held on 26th
June 1327 failed to mention any dovecot at Manyngford Brewes.
Mileford
dovecot
The dovecot at Mileford
was another dovecot worth nothing in 1361 because it was in ruins. The dovecot
with a messuage, a water mill and land was held by John Tudeworth of the king
in chief. The mill was worth 26s 8d and so was far from in ruins. John
Tudeworth was succeeded by his niece Joan, wife of Hugh Cheny.
Sherston
Despenser dovecot
The manor of Sherston
was held by Elizabeth, wife of Hugh le Despenser at the time of her death (30th
May 1359). The inquisition post mortem, taken at Malmesbury on 18th
June 1359, reported a dovecot on the manor worth 3s 4d per year. Elizabeth was
succeeded by Edward le Despenser, son of Edward, brother of Hugh le Despenser.
Edward le Despenser
died on 11th November 1375 leaving his son, Thomas le Despenser,
(aged 2 years), as his heir. By 1375 the dovecot at Sherton Despenser had
fallen into decay and was worth nothing at the inquisition post mortem taken in
December 1375. The rent from the free tenants had also fallen between 1359 and
1375 while the perquisites of the court fell from £20 to 60s. But other
features in the manor had not declined since 1359. In 1359 there were two water
mills and by 1375 this had increased to three mills. There was also a new windmill
and a horse mill. The value of the meadow and pasture land had also increased
over the years.
Clearly Edward le Despenser had little interest in dovecots or his needs were
supplied by dovecots on his other estates outside Wiltshire.
Sherston
Giffard dovecot
Eleanor Giffard, wife
of John Giffard of Weston held at the time of her death in 1360 some property
in Sherston which I refer to as Sherston Giffard to distinguish it from the
Despenser property at Sherston. The Inquisition post mortem held at Malmesbury
on 21st December 1360 found that Eleanor’s dovecot was worth nothing
because it was all in ruins. This finding was in keeping with the run down
state of the rest of Eleanor’s property at Sherston where one mill had walls in
a bad state of repair (worth 3s 4d) while another mill was in ruins. Eleanor
Giffard held her property from Sir John Tybetoft by the service of one knight’s
fee and doing suit at John’s manor of Castelcombe and was succeeded by her
daughter Elizabeth, then aged 9 years.
Elizabeth Giffard died
on 3rd November 1361 to be succeeded by her cousin, John Giffard,
son of William Giffard, brother of her grandfather, John Giffard. The dovecot
at Sherston Giffard was still worth nothing because it was in decay. The mill
was still only worth 3s 4d because it was in a bad condition and a number of
the tenants were dead, possibly from the Black Death.
When William Giffard
held the land in Sherston in 1270 there was no mention of a dovecot.
Inside of a ruined dovecot showing the nesting boxes
Somerford
Keynes dovecot
At some unknown date
the manor of Somerford Keynes was leased to Theobald de Mounteney for the term
of 80 years by King Edward III. At the time of his death in 1363 the dovecot
was worth 5s per year. Theobald de Mounteney died on 6th September
1363 with some years still to run on the lease. In an inquisition in 1432 the
dovecot was worth nothing.
Stanton
St. Quintin dovecot
On 21st May
1361 Margery Husee, wife of Roger Husee, died. The subsequent inquisition found
that Margery hold the manor and advowson of Stanton St. Quintin jointly with
her late husband, Herbert St. Quintin, from the Earl of Stafford by one
knight’s fee. The inquisition, taken on 14th June 1361, valued the
dovecot at 3s 4d. Margery Husee was succeeded by her two daughters by Herbert
St. Quintin, Elizabeth and Lora.
Stepullavyngton
dovecot
Agnes, the second wife
of John de Pavely, held a messuage and two carucates at Stepullavyngton of the
king in chief jointly with John Forstel, her late husband, by the gift of
Robert Forstel, brother of John. The dovecot on the premises was included in
the total valuation of 3s 4d with the messuage and garden. Robert de la Mare,
her brother, was Agnes’s heir while the Stepullavyngton property was to revert
to Robert Forstel. In 1292 and in 1308 there was no dovecot recorded in
Stepullavyngton.
Tynhide
(Tinhead) dovecot
In 1363 William, Bishop
of Winchester, wanted to grant the manor of Tynhide, along with other property
attached to the manor, to the house of St. Augustine of Edyndon. For this grant
William asked for the king’s licence. An inquisition at Devies on 17th
July 1363 said it would be no damage to the king to allow the grant. The same
report said there was a dovecot at Tynhide worth 3s 4d per year.
Trowbridge
dovecot
In November 1361 the
dovecot at Trowbridge was worth 3s 4d and was, along with the manor, the late
property of Joan, wife of John de Warenne, late Earl of Surrey. Joan de Warenne
had another dovecot on her manor of Aldeborne.
In 1311 Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, held the manor of Trowbridge and the
dovecot was then valued at 6s 8d per year.
Westbury
dovecot
The dovecot in the
manor of Westbury was valued in 1361 as 6s 8d per year. John de Pavely (who
died 21st October 1361) held the manor and dovecot at Westbury from
the king in chief. John de Pavely held other property in Wiltshire from other
overlords. His estate was partitioned between Joan, his granddaughter by his
first wife and Joan, his daughter by his second wife. The second wife, Agnes,
had a dovecot of her own at Stepullavyngton.
In 1256 Walter de
Pavely had three dovecots worth 7s in total situated in his lands at Westbury,
Broke, Heuedinghull and Lilledon. In 1276 the dovecot at Westbury was held by
Philip Marmion from Sir Reginald de Pavely but the value of the dovecot was
included with the easements of the court and the profit of the garden (total of
6s 8d).
Westgrafton
dovecot
John Balewayn died on
the Vigil of the feast of St. John the Baptist, 1361, seized of some property
at Westgrafton which he held of the king in chief. The one messuage along with
two parts of a dovecot and two parts of a garden were valued at 2s in total.
The third part of the dovecot was possibly held by John’s mother as her dower
lands.
Westhrop
dovecot
This dovecot in the
manor of Westhrop was worth 3s 4d in October 1361 and was held, along with the
manor, by John de la Rybere of the king in chief. John de la Rybere was
succeeded by his brother Richard de la Rybere.
Richard de la Rybere
died on Saturday before the feast of St. Nicholas, 1363 and was succeeded by
his son Thomas de la Rybere. At the time of his death Richard de la Rybere held
two thirds of the dovecot and garden along with two thirds of the manor of
Westhrop. The dovecot was valued at 5s but this included the value of the
garden and other various buildings.
One could assume that the dovecot declined in value since 1361 but one cannot
be certain of this assumption.
Winterbourne
Ford dovecot
On 8th May
1362 Thomas Winterbourne died and was seized of various properties in the
Winterbourne area from various landlords. The inquisition post mortem, held at
Winterbourne Earls on 19th August 1372, said that Thomas
Winterbourne held at Winterbourne Ford one messuage, one dovecot, one fulling
mill along with 6 acres of arable land and 2 acres of meadow from the Abbess of
Wilton. No value was put on the dovecot but the property was held by the
service of 12s per year and in total was worth 2s yearly beyond that rent. Joan
de Wanting, daughter of Elizabeth, sister of Thomas Winterbourne was his next
heir.
Woodhill
dovecot
The dovecot in the
manor of Woodhill was worth 3s 4d according to an inquisition taken on 13th
February 1361 at Marlborough. The dovecot, and the manor, was the late property
of Matthew Besils who died on Sunday before the feast of the Purification. The
manor was held of the king in chief and Matthew Besils was succeeded by his 16
year old son Peter Besils. There was a dovecot at Woodhill as early as 1268
(held by Matthew de Bessill) when the value of same was included in a total
value for all the buildings and gardens in the manor. In 1304 the dovecot was
worth 3s 4d per annum.
Ymmere
(Imber) dovecot
In 1361 the manor and
advowson of Ymmere was held jointly by Alice Rous and her husband, Sir John
Rous. Alice Rous died on 31st July 1361 and the dovecot in the manor
was valued at 2s. Richard le Rous, brother of Sir John Rous had the reversion
of the property.
Discussion
The inquisitions post
mortem for Wiltshire covering the years 1359 to 1377 mentioned twenty nine
dovecots. The most valuable dovecot was at Kemel and was worth 10s. Most of the
standing and operating dovecots (ten) came in with a valuation of 3s 4d. Four
dovecots had their value included in a larger figure for other buildings but
the true value of these dovecots was under the 3s 4d for most of the dovecots. Four
other dovecots appear to be in use but no value was given in the inquisitions. Of
course some of these dovecots may not be in use also. A watermill at Leeds
Castle in Kent was valued at 26s 8d in 1419 but at the same time it was
described as ruinous.
As in most medieval documents we don’t get the full story and just have to make
a best guess as to what was happening six hundred years ago.
Four other dovecots had
values ranging from 6s 8d to 2s while six of the dovecots were in ruins or
decayed so much that they were valueless.
Because we are dealing
with a period after the Black Death one could assume that the six dovecots in
ruins and those of low value was as a result of the economic disruption after the
Black Death. The Sherston Giffard dovecot seems to be a casualty of the Black
Death as the two mills on the estate were in a sorry state with one in ruins
and the other in poor repair. Growing grain and operating corn mills takes a
lot of labour and labour was in short supply for a good few years after 1350. An
inquisitions at Sherston in 1361 reported dead tenants.
But a ruined or low
value dovecot could be quickly turned round under good management as in the
dovecot at Hiwyssh. In 1361 it was only worth 3s 4d but under new management it
was valued at 6s 8d two years later. It is not clear from the values of the
different dovecots as to what size they were and how many birds they could hold
but clearly the dovecot at Hiwyssh had plenty of room for expansion.
The value of a dovecot
can decline over the years also as in the case of the one at Sherston Despenser
which fell from 3s 4d in 1359 to no value in 1375 while other buildings on the
same manor grew in number such as the corn mills. The dovecot at Woodhill seems
to have stay the same value (3s 4d) between 1304 and 1361 but there could have
been changes in the intervening years for which we have no record. In about the
same period the dovecot at Trowbridge fell in half from a value of 6s 8d to 3s
4d.
This Wiltshire study
has shown how the value of a dovecot can quickly change over a short few years
as at Hiwyssh. The dovecot at Sherston Despenser has shown that even in a manor
recovering from the Black Death, and growing economically, the dovecot may not
rise with the incoming tide but decline in value to a state of decay. Of course
this study only features the dovecots recorded in the various inquisitions post
mortem. A new dovecot in a nearby manor that was not recorded in the surviving
documents may have contributed to the decline of a recorded dovecot.
Competition in business existed in medieval times as much as it does today.
What this article on Wiltshire dovecots between 1359 and 1377 has demonstrated more than anything is that there is no simple and fast rule for medieval dovecots. Instead each dovecot has its own story and that story is the reflection of the landscape in which each dovecot is situated in. Of course big economic factors such as the Black Death will have an impact but the local conditions are the bases of the story. The management of each manor by the lord will influence the fortunes of each dovecot as at Hiwyssh and Sherston Despenser. The tenant who rents the dovecot will also influence the fortunes of the dovecot. Is the tenant in for a fast return on their investment or are they planning for long term development of the dovecot? Although the title of this article is "Wiltshire dovecots 1359 to 1377" it could also be entitled as "Individual dovecots in a Wiltshire landscape" as the subtitle suggests. .
Dovecots
after 1377
There were still
dovecots operating in Wiltshire after 1377 and long after the medieval period
ended. In the reign of Queen Elizabeth, for example, there were dovecots at
Lydecard Myllysent, Little Henton and Urchfont.
There was also an example of an urban dovecot. In the 1420s and after, William
Shirley, mayor and Member of Parliament for Salisbury on a few occasions held a
messuage, a dovecot and a garden called “Balles tenement” in Salisbury from the
Bishop of Salisbury.
The use of dovecots
didn’t stop at the end of the medieval period. The agricultural prosperity in
the late-17th and 18th centuries brought about the building of many more
dovecotes in Wiltshire. They were constructed of stone and brick, and in some
cases timber-framing and varied in size and shape. In all about 59 dovecots
survive across the county but mainly in the north and north-west. The
medieval dovecot at Shapwick in Somerset was used into modern times and pigeons
still live in it today.
Further studies of
dovecots in other places, and in different times, will add to our knowledge and
understanding of these very medieval buildings.
Value
of Wiltshire dovecots 1359-1377
Kemele = 10s
Westbury = 6s 8d
Somerford Keynes = 5s
Beydon = 4s
Aldeborne & Borescombe
& Hiwyssh & La Frith & Sherston Despenser (1359) & Staunton St.
Quintin & Trowbridge & Tynhide & Westhrop & Woodhill = 3s 4d
Harden = part of 5s
valuation with a messuage
Chesyngbury &
Stapullavyngton = part of 3s 4d valuation with a messuage and garden
Ymmere = 2s
Westgrafton = part of
2s valuation with a messuage and two parts of a garden
Bluntesdon &
Fyssherton & Great Chiverel & Winterbourne Ford = in use but no value
given
Erdescote & Hiwyssh
& Manyngford Brewes & Mileford & Sherton Despenser (1375) & Sherston
Giffard = nothing = in ruins
=================
Related
articles on dovecots
Dovecots in
Gloucestershire in the time of Henry III
Dovecotes in the
Calendar of Inquisitions Miscellaneous Volume Eight
Dovecotes of Llanthony
priory in Ireland
=====================
Further
reading
John and Pamela McCann,
The Dovecotes and Pigeon Lofts of
Wiltshire (Hobnob Press, 2011)
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