The best-known type is the free-standing one, either circular, square, rectangular or multi-sided in plan. Means of access for the birds varied, but probably the most common was the glover, an open-sided structure on the ridge, while access into the dovecot for people was by means of a small door. Internally around the walls were rows of L-shaped nestboxes which could vary from a hundred or so up to two thousand.
Nowadays pigeons are no longer kept on farms for food but many dovecots, often used as stores, still survive. Amongst the most attractive are those constructed of timber. In Hereford & Worcester the National Trust own two excellent examples in the county – one at The Grange, Hawford (189), and one at Wichenford (190), both of seventeenth-century date. Two more in the county owned by or leased to the Avoncroft Museum of Buildings stand at Moat Farm, Dormston (191), and Glebe Farm, Hill Croome. The former is also seventeenth century and stands adjacent to the farmhouse of similar date. The latter dovecot probably dates from the fifteenth century and is rare because it is of cruck construction.
Lofts were also used as dovecots. Some are built over porches or gatehouses, but normally they are in the gable end of farm buildings – barns, stables and even granaries were all used. These were often small, restricted to the area above the collar-beams. Access for the birds was by means of rows of holes, varying in number from one up
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