Description: If you are in the area, I would commend that you call in to Hawford just to cast your eyes over this National Trust property. It was acquired by the Trust in 1973 and has only recently being restored to its current state. Admission is only £1, although when we visited, there was no one to pay your money to (not that it mattered, because we have free admission to all Trust properties), so that might give you an impression of what Hawford Dovecote has to offer. It’s certainly not a place to travel miles to see, but its historical value has clearly been recognised by the National Trust.
Hawford is 3 miles to the north of Worcester and is has an insignificant sign pointing off the busy main road. The road to the dovecote is a typical country road, and parking at the site is not easy. The road is so narrow that we had to pull off onto the narrow grass verge and hope that two cars didn’t come from opposite directions. Access to the dovecote is on foot only down a private road, past a couple of houses.
Hawford is fairly unique as a dovecote, as it is a square building and made of wood and stone. A classic black-and-white building that is all that remains of a monastic grange. The dovecote has four gables in the roof, each one with a small window for additional light, and unusually, the nesting, boxes, rather than being built directly into the stone wall, are made of wood and attached to the walls extending in places into the gable ends. I have to say that as we entered through the large “barn doors,” I wondered why we had bothered, but if you have a bit of pre-knowledge about dovecotes, it puts the whole thing into historical context.
Dovecotes were simply homes for pigeons, and in its heyday, England had over 26,000 of them throughout the land. Like Hawford, many were built in the grounds of monasteries and manor houses, as they were a great source of revenue, providing a much in-demand food source. However, the laws did restrict the ownership of such building, and the general population was forbidden from keeping pigeons. Pigeons had become part of the gentry’s staple diet, as they were rich in protein and were available through the winter months as fresh meat, far better than the salted and preserved meats that had previously been available.
Hawford would have held around 500 pairs of pigeons, and I can only imagine the state of the barn when these birds “did their worst”. They’d fly out for a quick forage for food and spend the rest of their time breeding or “expelling their waste products.” It must have been a right pleasure for the labourer who had the dubious pleasure of cleaning the cote but not enjoying the cooked bird later. Perhaps he could pick the bones after the meal!
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