:Manorbier Dovecote

{{Infobox historic site

| name = Manorbier Dovecote

| image = Manorbier Dovecote DSC 6947.jpg

| caption = "the best-preserved circular dovecote with a domed roof surviving in South Wales"

| type = Dovecote

| locmapin = Wales Pembrokeshire

| map_relief = yes

| coordinates = {{coord|51.646|-4.8015|display=inline,title}}

| location = Manorbier, Pembrokeshire

| area =

| built = 12th/13th century

| architect =

| architecture = Vernacular

| governing_body = Privately owned

| designation1 = Grade II* listed building

| designation1_offname = Dovecote

| designation1_date = 14 May 1970

| designation1_number = 5977

| designation2 = Scheduled monument

| designation2_offname = Manorbier Dovecote

| designation2_date = 22 July 1994

| designation2_number = PE459

}}

Manorbier Dovecote stands in the village of Manorbier, Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is within the Manorbier Castle estate, about 100m north-west of the castle. Dating from the 12th or 13th centuries, the dovecote is a Grade II* listed building and a scheduled monument.

History

The keeping and breeding of doves or pigeons in Britain dates back to the Norman Conquest.{{efn|It has been suggested that domesticated pigeons were introduced to Britain by the Romans.{{Cite web|url=https://ruralhistoria.com/2024/01/30/dovecotes-one-thousand-years-of-history/|first=Imogen|last=Clarkson-Wright|title=Dovecotes: One Thousand Years of History|publisher=Rural Historia|date=30 January 2024|access-date=12 September 2024}} Pigeon holes have been identified in the structures at the Roman town of Venta Silurum (modern-day Caerwent).{{Cite web|url=https://www.mythslegendsodditiesnorth-east-wales.co.uk/dovecote|title=Rhualt Dovecote|publisher=Curious Clwyd|access-date=12 September 2024}}}} The birds provided sources of food through their meat and eggs; their feathers were used for the decoration of clothing, and for domestic purposes such as bedding; and their droppings were used as a fertilizer.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/discover/history/architecture/what-is-a-dovecote|title=What is a dovecote?|publisher=National Trust|access-date=12 September 2024}} The keeping of birds was a high-status activity, and regulated by law; consequently dovecotes are generally attached to large estates, either manorial or ecclesiastical.{{efn|In his study of 1891, Pigeon Houses in Herefordshire and Gower, Alfred Watkins identifies three of the castle-type further along the coast from Manorbier; at Oystermouth, Penrice, and Oxwich.{{sfn|Watkins|1891|p=35}}}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.buildinghistory.org/buildings/dovecotes.shtml|first=Jean|last=Marco|title=Researching the History of Dovecotes in Britain and Ireland|publisher=Researching Historic Buildings in the British Isles|access-date=12 September 2024}} Once prevalent throughout Britain, in the 17th century there reportedly 25,000 in England alone, many have decayed or been demolished in the modern period.{{efn|In his study, A Book of Dovecotes published in 1920, Arthur Owens Cooke lamented the destruction of so many dovecotes in the early 20th century and implored owners not to permit the growth of ivy on those that remained; "above all set [your] faces against ivy, that most dangerous foe of masonry. To turn the dovecote into a green bower may be picturesque, but means disaster in the end".{{sfn|Cooke|1920|p=48}}}}

The Manorbier Dovecote stands about 100m north-west of the castle. Its build date is uncertain. The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW) suggests the 12th or 13th centuries.{{Coflein|num=22599|desc=Manorbier Castle Dovecote, Old Pigeon House|access-date=12 September 2024}} Cadw also posits a medieval construction period,{{Cadw|num=PE459|desc=Manorbier Dovecot|grade=SM|access-date=12 September 2024}} but noting similarities with the dovecote at Angle, considers that Manorbier could also be of the 15th century.{{Cadw|num=5977|desc=Dovecote|grade=II*|access-date=12 September 2024}} The dovecote was partially repaired in the 19th century and was fully restored in the 21st.{{cite news|url=https://pembrokeshire-herald.com/12083/manorbier-dovecote-restored/|first=Tom|last=Sinclair|title=Manorbier Dovecote restored|work=Pembrokeshire Herald|date=5 January 2015|access-date=12 September 2024}}{{cite web|url=https://www.pembrokeshirecoast.wales/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/manorbier.pdf|title=Manorbier: Short Walk|publisher=Pembrokeshire Coast National Park|access-date=12 September 2024}}

Architecture and description

The dovecote is about 5m in height and circular with a domed roof. Internally there are twelve rows of nesting boxes, with accommodation for about 240 birds. In their Pembrokeshire volume in the Buildings of Wales series, Thomas Lloyd, Julian Orbach and Robert Scourfield describe it as a, "fine, medieval circular dovecote with domical cobelled roof".{{sfn|Lloyd|Orbach|Scourfield|2004|p=276}} Cadw considers it the best remaining of its type in South Wales. The Manorbier dovecote is a Grade II* listed building and a Scheduled monument.