Historic Buildings in Scotland

Doocots

Doocot Gallery - Alphabetical List - Listed by Type

Doocots, or dovecots as they are also known, were once common in Scotland. They were introduced to Britain by the Normans to store pigeons - a desirable addition to the winter menu at a time that fresh meat was not available. The earliest of these were cut into rock or converted from existing caves, known as coo caves, though the earliest surviving doocots in Scotland date from the sixteenth century.

It was in the winter that farmers slaughtered their herds of cattle or flocks of sheep, apart from a few for breeding, as they were unable to feed them. The meat was salted to preserve it. Pigeons, however, were readily available, needed little space and foraged for their own food. They provided fresh meat as well as eggs. Their droppings were used as fertiliser, in the production of gunpowder and also for leather tanning and cloth dyeing.

Doocots were therefore a valuable thing to have been laws concerning them from as early as 1424. In 1503 an Act was passed directing all landowners to set up doocots, as well as deer parks, orchards, etc, as a benefit to the community. However, it was not possible to control where the pigeons found their food and they had an adverse affect on surrounding crops. Therefore in 1617 a further statute was added restricting the building of these to land owners that produced a significant amount of crop within a two mile radius of the doocot, thus providing ample food for the pigeons.

There are two type of doocots surviving from the sixteenth century - the circular section, beehive shaped variety, which tapered towards the top with a flat domed roof; and the rectangular lectern type that superseded them. They were continued to be built into the eighteenth century and later examples have a variety of forms, including cylindrical and hexagonal, in a range of styles depending on where they were built.

Each doocot could accommodate between 500 and 2000 birds and in the eighteenth century there were as many as 360 doocots in Fife alone.

The introduction of the turnip rendered the doocot a thing of the past - farmers were able to use this root vegetable to feed their herds and flocks during the winter months. Pigeon gradually disappeared from the menu and doocots fell into disuse. However many still exist - superstition says that it is unlucky to pull down a doocot.

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