Sites and Monument Record: Westquarter House Doocot (SMR 55)
Description
This lectern doocot stands near the W end of Dovecot Rd, Westquarter. It is in an excellent state of preservation, the roof having been renewed by Historic Scotland. Slightly oblong in plan, it measures 18 ft 3 ins from E to W by 16 ft 3 ins transversely over walls 2 ft 10 ins thick, and is built of random rubble with dressed quoins and door-rybats. The door is in the centre of the S side, and above this a heavy round perching course runs all round the building. Resting on this above the door is an heraldic panel topped by a small moulded cornice, above which there is a row of three openings for the birds. From the wall head of the S wall the roof slopes up towards the N wall, which is considerably higher, the slope being interrupted to provide space for a further row of sic openings for pigeons. The side walls are crow-stepped to a point about half way up the upper portion of the roof, where they meet the returns of the tabled parapet that tops the N wall. This parapet is finished with scrolls and pilasters, and bears ball finials at the corners. The inner faces of the walls consist wholly of stone built nests, which number 868; they are built in regular rows each about 9 ins high. The floor is laid with bricks, in which a circular setting marks the socket hole of the vanished potence. The armorial stone is fully described in the noted documentation.
Dated 1647.
Public comments
Be the first to comment on this object record.