WE VE been on a flight of fancy chronicling the area s dovecotes recently, and now, thanks to Ian Hillary, from Hurworth, we re able to link the wife who survived Henry VIII with a North Yorkshire pigeon pie. Now lockdown has eased, Ian has been out into North Yorkshire to check on some dovecotes which we haven’t yet mentioned in our tour of these curious structures. Dovecotes, of course, were important in the days before refrigerators as they proved a fresh source of eggs and meat. They became fashionable accessories to a country estate around 1700, although the older, more rustic, Durham ones are centuries older than that. Most of the building of dovecotes in our area was done by 1800.
DOVECOTES have a way of flying us back through time, and connecting us to one of the greatest royal stories of all time and the composition of some of the most romantic poems in the English language. In the days before refrigerators, dovecotes were important as they proved a regular source of fresh eggs and meat. They became fashionable accessories to a country estate around 1700, although the older, more rustic, are centuries older than that, and most of the building of dovecotes in our area was done by 1800 – however, you know all that because you’ve been following what has been a long running series on the locations of dovecotes.