The Dovecot stands near the church
of
Penmon Priory.
This is said to have probably
been built
in about 1600, in Elizabethan times, by Sir Richard Bulkeley. Sir Richard had a
house, Baron Hill, west of Beaumaris and completed in 1618.
The wealthy of this time, had fish
ponds, and dovecots to provide regular on demand food, and usually
dovecots were built so that their owner could see the access door to the
dovecots. Members of the church and certain levels of people were
allowed to have dovecots, but most of the population was not. Its likely
that the church at the time had a curate or vicar living in the
priory house and that this and the maintained fish pond opposite were
part of his living provided for him, by whoever owned the estate at the
time, and perhaps this could have been Sir Richard.
At the time it was often the case that
the heir to an estate ran it and the second in line went into the
church. So in many cases the vicar was the son of a landowner. Livings
were within the gift of and supported by estates, and the church helped
maintain the class system.
The building is square with a domed roof
with a cupola on top so birds could fly in and out.
Inside the dovecot there are, in the
walls, about 1,000 nesting boxes. In the centre is a 12ft tall pillar,
with steps built in. This would have supported a revolving ladder
so people had access to the nesting boxes for both young birds for meat
and for eggs. |
