BOOK OF DOVECOTES 



Inside, it being no longer needful to adhere 

 to classical design, things are more sensibly ar- 

 ranged. The nests, L-shaped, are placed upon 

 each wall in fourteen tiers, fourteen in every tier. 

 Each tier is furnished with its own alighting- 

 ledge. 



Finally, though the dovecote is rectangular, 

 there is a potence, and a somewhat elaborate 

 one. The upright beam, twenty feet high, 

 carries three cross-arms, each seventeen feet 

 long and projecting upon either side. On these 

 are borne two ladders, as was frequently the 

 case in France; while the middle arm of the 

 three also supports a horizontal platform about 

 six feet square. Something of the same ar- 

 rangement is occasionally seen in other dove- 

 cotes, but its purpose is not very obvious. 



The Corby Castle dovecote is a late example, 

 dating from about a century ago; it was doubt- 

 less built in 1813, when the mansion was re- 

 stored in Grecian Doric style. It is almost 

 equally certain that the present dovecote is at 

 least the second that has stood at Corby; and 

 very probable that its forerunner was either cir- 

 cular or octagonal, in which case it is easy to 

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