CHAPTER THIRTEEN 



SUSSEX, HAMPSHIRE, 



AND WILTSHIRE 



The vanished Herefordshire dovecote of Bos- 

 bury had, as was pointed out, strong claims 

 for its inclusion in the record given here. But 

 it was not unique, others of its kind remaining. 

 This, unhappily, is not the case with one about 

 to be described, and the vandalism which per- 

 mitted the destruction of a building absolute- 

 ly unique should not go unrecorded and uncen- 

 sured. 



Towards the close of the eighteenth century 

 the dovecote which then stood among the ruins 

 of Lewes Priory, Sussex, was deliberately 

 "pulled down for the sake of the materials," 



This extraordinary building, almost certain- 

 ly unmatched in England, was of cruciform 

 shape and unusual size. The longer arm, which 

 pointed north and south, was eighty-one feet 

 three inches long, the cross-arm being a foot 

 shorter. Slightly different dimensions have 

 been given, but those set down here are from a 

 careful measurement of the foundations, made 

 in 1895. Further, the eastern arm of the cross 



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