Hedingham Castle dovecote approximately 60 metres south-east of house (EHER 25230)

18th century dovecote in garden of Hedingham Castle House.

Original HER entry merged with NRHE data import: 1930-1931. Survey. Dovecote. 18th century. Red brick octagonal building with red plain tiled roof surmounted by a concave leaded apex to a square glazed lantern with finial. Moulded brick eaves cornice. Plain doorway, now with an open slatted door. RA 1720 in black brick around the walls, relating to Sir Robert Ashurst who purchased the castle about 1713. Most of the original pigeon holes remain also the base of the central newel. <1> 1995. Survey. Dovecote dated 1720 in garden of Hedingham Castle House. The Estate of Hedingham Castle was purchased by Sir William Ashurst from the Trentham family in 1713, and the great house there, built in the inner bailey of the castle earthworks, was completed by 1719, the year of Sir William's death. His son, Robert, proceeded to lay out extensive gardens for the house. A brick dovecote bearing the date 1720 and the initials of its owner, Sir Robert Ashurst, is situated within the garden of Hedingham Castle House. Although a functional building, it is an ornamental design and was clearly meant to be seen and appreciated as a feature of the garden. It is octagonal, measuring 6m by 6m, with a central newel post for a revolving stair which would have accessed all nesting boxes, most of which survive. The dovecote is situated between two sunken areas which mark the positions of earlier ponds, possibly originally fishponds <2> <3>. The dovecote was investigated during a survey of Hedingham Castle by the Royal Commission in October and November 1995, following a request from English Heritage. See archive report and plan at 1:1000 scale. <4> See also: <5> <6>