Dovecotes are ancient structures that have been used by man over the centuries to provide a variety of products from food to gunpowder. But how many are still lurking around?

IN the 17th Century there were 26,000 dovecotes in England. In the past few months, Echo Memories has stumbled upon two of them, their ruins stranded in fields as the tide of humanity has flowed away from them.

They are intriguing and ancient objects and, although it may be a flight of fancy, they have left us wondering how many more remain dotted about the district.

Man has farmed pigeons for thousands of years, mainly for food, although pigeon byproducts have also had other ingenious uses.

The Chinese and the Egyptians farmed pigeons in rudimentary dovecotes; the Persians took up the art, discovering that pigeon droppings could be used to make gunpowder.

The Romans spread pigeonkeeping as they conquered the known world, and built their dovecotes as far north as northern France.

When the Normans invaded Britain in 1066, they brought with them the concept of pigeon-keeping and for the next 700 years, pigeons were the only reliable source of fresh meat for British people during winter and spring.

Livestock was generally slaughtered in autumn at the end of the growing season and the meat was salted and preserved.

It was not considered worthwhile to feed a cow - with food better put in the mouth of a hungry human - all winter only to slaughter it in the spring.

Pigeons, though, could survive cheaply throughout the winter. Unlike cattle, which are quite bulky to accommodate, thousands of pigeons could be crammed into a dovecote, where they bred prolifically - a pair of pigeons could hatch a baby every six weeks.

Again unlike cattle, pigeons would fly every day in search of their own food.

Only the aristocracy could afford to build a dovecote, yet it was the peasants who usually fed the noblemen's pigeons. The birds did not consult a map to see who owned a field before descending upon it for a feed.

The peasants naturally were not best pleased to see the nobleman's pigeons stripping their wheat crops, but they were powerless to intervene, because until the time of Henry VIII it was illegal to harm a pigeon.

Beyond meat and eggs, there were other incentives to keep pigeons: they made good quality manure which otherwise would be expensive to buy, and their dung was used as a tanning agent in the manufacture of leather.

Inside a dovecote (technically, a dovecote is a free-standing structure in which any type of pigeons are kept) was a clever device called a "potence".

The roof of the dovecote was supported by a central vertical pole that could revolve.

Attached to the pole were a couple of horizontal arms.

On the edge of the arms was secured a ladder so that the pigeon-keeper could climb up and down to reach the nestboxes on the wall.

The revolving pole in the centre meant that by pushing on the wall, the pigeon-keeper could move himself around the inside of the dovecote without having the hassle of having to prop his ladder in a new position every few minutes.

The need to keep pigeons was obviated in the early 18th Century, when turnips and swedes were introduced into British agriculture. These root crops could be stored and fed to over-wintering livestock.

There was a renewed spurt of sporting interest in pigeons and dovecotes in the mid-19th Century as shoots became fashionable, but most dovecotes fell out of use more than 200 years ago and have gradually crumbled into ruins.

For example, a dovecote was first mentioned in 1449 as being in the grounds of Hardwick Hall, on the outskirts of Sedgefield. Now there is no trace of it.

Similarly, a dovecote was last mentioned at Bishop Middleham Old Hall in 1820, but appears now to have gone.

A few have vanished but left tantalising traces of their existence. There is the Dovecote Arts Centre, in Stockton, the Dovecote pub, in Trimdon, and in Staindrop there is Dovecote Street and Pigeon Cote Wynd.

Some, though, remain, ancient and intriguing:

Barforth: High on a Yorkshire cliff overlooking the Tees and Gainford on the Durham side.

It is next to the romantic ruins of St Lawrence's Chapel, which Echo Memories featured several weeks ago.

The building is a Grade I Ancient Monument but is officially in "very bad" condition. It is probably more than 600 years old and is one of the earliest examples of the "beehive" shape of dovecotes in the country.

Gainford: In the grounds of the Jacobean Gainford Hall is a circular stone dovecote that, like the hall, was built about 1600. It is a Grade II* listed building, but is officially in "poor" condition.

Caldwell: Behind the church in the village, just to the south of Barforth, is a dovecote that might be as old as 12th Century.

The dovecotes of Gainford, Barforth and Caldwell are in a straight line, as the pigeon flies, and this might have been deliberate on the builders' part.

Old Dunsa Bank: This one is just to the south of the A66, between Ravensworth and Newsham, and appears to continue the line of dovecotes.

It sounds as if it is the very best of them all.

Dating from the early 18th Century, it is said to be in ruinous state on a deserted farmstead. It is situated above an extraordinary toilet.

The toilet is divided in two by a wall and has two entrances - one for the farmer to use, the other for his lowly farmhands.

How we would love more information about this one.

Forcett: The grandest dovecote in the district stands in the grounds of Forcett Park. It was designed in 1740 by Daniel Garnett, a London-trained Yorkshire architect, who was a protege of Lord Burlington.

The building is octagonal and doubles as a shelter for cattle.

It was restored at a cost of £12,000 by the Richmond Preservation Trust in 1987 when public access was granted to it.

Barton: Known locally as "the watchtower", this dinky square tower has puzzled me for years, but it turns out to be the smallest free-standing dovecote in England.

Low Middleton: As Echo Memories reported several months ago, a half-brick octagonal dovecote stands in a field near Low Middleton Hall, which is close to Middleton One Row.

This is probably the largest - 1,500 to 2,000 nests - and probably one of the most modern - late 18th Century.

Houghton-le-Side: Beside the old Manor House is a dovecote that is a listed building, again in "poor" condition.

Heighington: At Coatsay Moor Farm, near the village, there is a dovecote in the upper storey of a square tower (dovecotes were often built with doors on the top storeys in an effort to prevent poachers from reaching the birds).

Also, at Trafalgar House in the village, there is a decorative square cote with a light and a weathervane on the top.

Trafalgar House was built about 1830 by Captain William Pryce Cumby, a hero of the Battle of Trafalgar.

Walworth: A dovecote exists above a cart shed at a farm near the castle.

High Coniscliffe: This one is in a square tower which has battlements on three sides of its roof.

The fourth side is open. Local historian Vera Chapman says this dovecote is similar to those found in the south of France.

The birds like to sun themselves on its south-facing open side, while the three battlements protect them from the chilly northerly winds.

There are also said to be dovecotes at farms in Great Burdon and Headlam.

Any information about, or pictures of, any of the above, or about any other dovecotes in the area that we may have missed would be extremely welcome.

Please write to Echo Memories, The Northern Echo, Priestgate, Darlington, DL1 1NF, telephone (01325) 505062 or e-mail chris. lloyd@nne. co. uk.

We are hugely indebted for help with this article to Alan Whitworth, of the British Dovecote Society, which promotes the preservation of dovecotes in this country. The society can be contacted at: 10 The Carrs, Sleights, Whitby, North Yorkshire, YO21 1RR, or telephone (01947) 810819.