The hunt is on for historic dovecotes in the Yorkshire Dales.

And owners of the up-market accommodation for doves and pigeons are being asked to get in touch with the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority (YDNPA) to help in a special new conservation project.

Robert White, the Authority’s Senior Conservation Archaeologist, said: “Dovecotes played an important part in rural life in the National Park.

“The birds they housed provided their owners with many resources, including eggs and meat for food, feathers for bedding – and even fertiliser.

“We want to hear from people who have them,whether they are built into their houses or outbuildings or are freestanding,because if we can identify more examples and increase our knowledge of their design and distribution, we will be able to improve the ways we can conserve and protect them in the future.

“Not all of them have survived so we would also be interested in any documentary records.“

Dovecotes are put under the microscope in the YDNPA’s Feature of the Season Project, which was designed to increase understanding and appreciation of unrecorded, small-scale historic features in the National Park ranging from unusual gate posts and churn stands to veteran trees and turbary stones.

The project aims to create accessible records of them – mainly through the help of Dales Volunteers – that are included in the National Park Authority's Historic Environment Record.

An article about them can be found on the YDNPA website at www.yorkshiredales.org.uk/dovecotes_main.htm

Anyone who has information about dovecotes is asked to contact the Authority’s historic environment team on 01969 652300.

Factfile

The first recorded examples of dovecotes in Britain are from the Roman period, though the few surviving examples suggest they were not widely used.

It wasn’t until after the Norman Conquest that they become much more widespread. In fact, they became so popular during the medieval period that many European countries were inundated with complaints from fed-up peasant farmers whose grain crops were being eaten by the birds – and laws had to be introduced to regulate their construction and possession.

As a result, the ownership of a dovecote was considered to show high social status, reflecting the wealth of the lord who could afford to pay the ownership tax. It was not until 1761 that new legislation was introduced in Britain, relaxing the previous rules, and allowing any freeholder to keep the birds.

The change in the law saw an increase in dovecotes, and some found in the Yorkshire Dales National Park tend to date from around this period. They are mainly found in the roof spaces of village barns and houses, often above porches and the entrance holes are usually quite high off the ground and they have tight internal access doors to deter predators like weasels, martens and rats.