CHURCH PIGEONS 



while examining the interiorsurface of the tow- 

 er walls, a number of holes observable in their 

 upper portion. These he at first took to be 

 niches in which the joists of a former belfry- 

 chamber had been inserted, but closer study- 

 soon dispelled this first surmise. The openings 

 were all uniform in size — six inches square; 

 the holes entered the walls at an angle, and 

 they enlarged gradually until a depth of from 

 fifteen to eighteen inches was reached. There 

 are six tiers of holes in each of the four walls, 

 the usual number of the holes in every tier 

 being four, though there are sometimes five; 

 one or two occur also on either side of the lan- 

 cet windows. Below each tier of holes there 

 is a stone alighting-ledge. 



There cannot be the slightest doubt that 

 these were nests for pigeons; not adapted to 

 such purpose as an after-thought, but planned 

 and executed when the tower was built. As the 

 tower dates from the first half of the thirteenth 

 century this remarkable dovecote must be giv- 

 en rank as perhaps the oldest in the county — 

 older by half a century at least than that which 

 stands by Garway church. That it was not the 



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