Dovecots/Doocots

Dovecot; small square ashlar with some pinnings; stone nesting boxes; has squat octagonal gablet pinnacles; two rat ledges; possibly 16th/17thC origin; restored 1981.

Crathes is particularly known for its ceiling paintings. Photography is not allowed in the castle but there are excellent photographs in the RCAHMS "canmore" database see: http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/36693/digital_images/crathes+castle/ .
Castle; an L-plan tower-house built in the mid-16thC with a later projecting wing. It is built of granite with rounded angles and rises to four storeys and an attic. The lower storeys are plain but above the first-floor level there is a profusion of corbelling, stringcourse, angle- and stair-turrets, heraldic decoration, gargoyles, and gabling which are unique to Scottish castellated architecture. The entrance, in the re-entrant angle is protected by an iron yett. The interior is famed for its plaster & magnificent wooden painted ceilings. The castle was built for the Burnetts of Leys who received the charter for the land from Robert the Bruce in 1323. Within the castle is a jewelled ivory horn, the Horn of Leys, which is said to have been presented to Alexander Burnett by the Bruce when he received the charter. The castle came into the hands of the National Trust for Scotland in 1951. SMR
Crathes Castle NO 735 966 doocot
doocot Small square, rubble, with forestair and slated pyramidal roof. Probably early 19th century. Rebuilt on present site 1935. Inset stone from Houses of Parliament. LBR
The sundial has an interesting decoration of 4 grotesque portrait masks but I can find no record of its date or creator.

An unusual pink harled circular structure with three tiers of decreasing diameter. A circular dovecot in good repair: three sharply diminishing stages with batten, rubble-built. Entrance with chamfer and relieving arch, widened at lower courses. 708 stone nesting boxes. Similar to those at Auchry and Huntly but appears to be considerably older.

A well preserved 16th-century beehive dovecot stands on the edge of a field, Dovecot; tall beehive shaped dovecot of 16thC; three rat ledges; flight hole in top; stands beside a pond to the SE of the castle.

The dovecot at Mount Coffer House is cylinder-shaped. The walls are harled and rest on a plinth. A blocked up narrow slit recess, shaped as a cross at the top and a circle at the bottom, is present on the north and on the south side. The entrance is in the west side. Currently roofless probably late 18thC.

A tall dovecot with chamfered angles forming an octagonal plan. It is built of harl pointed rubble with tooled granite ashlar dressings and margins with heavy boulder footings. It is built in two stages with long elevations on the N, S, E and W with doorway in the west. There is an oval oculus in the E, W and S elevations above a continuous alighting ledge. The wallhead is slightly corbelled and crenallated wallhead with each merlon capped by ball finial (12 in number). The wallhead masks a pyramidal slate roof. Inside the interior is lined full-height with approximately 300 brick nesting boxes with the base of each box constructed of brick slabs. A tall potence ladder still survives although some of the rungs are missing. Dated 1800. It was built by Lord Garden of Gardenstown when he bought the Pitsligo Estate. Each ball finial is said to represent one for each of his 12 Estates.

Hexagonal shaped dovecote in a fair state of preservation, interior is circular with nesting boxes all round and reaching to roof height. A battlement parapet which was probably added when the old Mercat Cross was erected on it in 1768 until 1900, probably contemporary with Duff House. Stands on the hilltop above the Deveron valley and Duff House as a folly and ornament to the landscape. Until the 1980s the dovecote stood in a field, now it is largely built over with modern residential development.Dovecote appears on John Clerk's topographical print of Banff, 1826

A beautifull little stone carved dove.

The facade of a Gothic style doocote rebuilt beside the castle.