BOOK OF DOVECOTES 



French visitor or friend; so strikingly does the 

 unusual style of roof remind us of those raised 

 against the mistral's blasts. The lean-to, south- 

 ward-facing roof so often seen upon an oblong 

 Scottish dovecote, but so rare in England, gave 

 a welcome shelter in a land where chill winds 

 blow; but here we have one which combines 

 the shelter of the lean-to roof with the main 

 building's rounded form. 



The dovecote is a large one, the circum- 

 ference being sixty feet; massive in structure, 

 for the walls are four feet thick. The doorway 

 measures five feet high by two feet broad. In- 

 side are about five hundred nest-holes; also a 

 not uninteresting substitute for the usual pot- 

 ence, perhaps deemed too difficult of nice ad- 

 justment in a house which narrows markedly 

 as the walls ascend. There is a fixed post ris- 

 ing to the roof. Against it is secured a ladder 

 giving access to a large proportion of the nests. 

 Those at a still higher level are reached from 

 a shorter ladder fixed in the reverse direction 

 from that taken by the one below. In short, the 

 dovecote at Phantassie is one well worth seeing. 



Following the main road for two miles or 

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