Doocot-spotting: where to find pigeon palaces that fed the nation

Among the largest is B-listed Finavon Doocot, near Forfar in Angus. Believed to have been built by the Earl of Crawford in the 16th century, it has 2,400 nesting boxes within a lean-to style building.

It is now in the care of the National Trust of Scotland, which also looks after the 17th-century Boath Doocot at  Auldearn, Nairn. Overlooking the site of the Battle of Auldearn, it is a circular shape with 515 nesting boxes.

Boath Doocot in Auldearn, Nairn, is cared for by the National Trust for Scotland (Image: National Trust for Scotland)

Close to Linlithgow’s canal basin is a 16th century beehive shape doocot with 270 nest holes, built on land owned by the Barons Ross of Halkhead.

In June 1699 Baron Ross prised open the doocot entrance to find a bundle of child’s bloodstained clothes. Just two people had keys to the doocot: the Baron and his gardener, Gabriel Mowbray.

Months earlier Mowbray’s daughter’s lifeless body had been found in a nearby wood, leading to deaf and mute hermit, Brother Michael, being blamed. Unable to plead his innocence, he died in jail.

Preston Tower Doocot near Prestonpans is being restored

The doocot discovery led to Mowbray being confronted and confessing to his daughter’s murder. He was hanged at the Mercat Cross in Edinburgh for his crime.

Some doocots survived while the estates and grand houses they served were flattened and overtaken by modern housing.

At  Westquarter near Falkirk, an A-listed mid-17th century doocot with crow-steps, scalloped parapet and space for 900 birds once provided for Sir William Livingston and his wife, Lady Helen.

The doocot in a housing estate near Falkirk is all that remains of the once grand Westquarter Estate (Image: Tom Sargent/geograph.org.uk)

Westquarter House was demolished 150 years ago, and the land became a local authority housing estate.

At Parkhill House in Polmont, is a square Gothic style doocot resembling a castle. It is also now surrounded by homes.

Scotland’s cities also have their share of doocots: in suburban Corstorphine, Edinburgh, there’s a 16th century beehive shaped doocot with more than 1000 nesting boxes. It is all that remains of Corstorphine Castle estate.

And in Glasgow, Daldowie Doocot stood in the grounds of the former Daldowie House estate. Isolated for years next to Daldowie Sewage Works, it was dismantled in 2000 and repositioned next to the A74 near Mount Vernon.

Daldowie Doocot, relocated from its original site in 2000 (Image: IAN HOSSACK)

For anyone keen to have their own doocot, a tall Georgian red brick one large enough for 1000 birds on the edge of Carronshore is currently being advertised to let by Bell Ingram.

While some doocots are deteriorating, others have been successfully restored: at Falkirk’s Dollar Park, around £80,000 has recently been spent reviving the 1834 doocot.

Also restored by local heritage organisations is Melville Doocot at Bow of Fife near Cupar. But the doocot that isn’t really a doocot.

Dolphingstone Doocot, East Lothian, is an example of a 17th century beehive style doocot 

Featuring a turntable ladder inside to enable egg gatherers to reach the top of the structure, it was originally built in the 18th century was as a windmill for flour production.

Kingsbarn Distillery in Fife has restored the doocot, with its Adam-style crenelations and Gothic detailing, at the heart of its buildings.

It now holds some of the distillery’s casks and gave its name to its flagship malt.

Among the best known is in East Lothian near Preston Mill, used as the backdrop of several Outlander scenes. The unusual 16th century Phantassie Doocot has a distinctive horseshoe shaped parapet, four feet thick walls and housed 544 pigeons.

National Trust for Scotland cares for Phantassie Doocot in alongside Preston Mill in East Lothian (Image: © Marcin Klimek)

In Ayrshire, Dunure Castle is in ruins yet its 16th century ‘beehive’ doocot survives.

Athelstanford Doocot at the National Flag Heritage Centre, East Lothian

And in East Lothian, Athelstanford Doocot is one of Scotland's earliest surviving doocots, dating from the 1580s, and overlooks an ancient battleground.

Not far away, just off the A1 near Tranent, is Dolphingstone Doocot, an example of a beehive style doocot. Originally connected to the now ruined Cowthrople House, it was built in the 17th century and featured a cupola on its roof.