Bruton Dovecote by Richard Walker Via Flickr: The Bruton Watchtower/ Dovecote / Somerset / UK It seems likely that this square three storey structure was originally erected as a watch tower. From surviving relieving arches it appears that the building at one time had four two light windows on the middle floor and possibly a door opening on the south-west elevation. The mouldings on the present doorway and of the window frames appear to date to the 17th century. "An old drawing of the early 18th century shows a chimney and it then had a roof. The windows have obviously been altered in shape and some blocked up ...... once had a first floor storey and a fireplace and was used for some sort of habitation" ( Couzens P 1968, 40). Appears unlikely to have been the Pigeon House for the Priory as it was "too far away from the Priory and has only 200 nests in it whereas dovecotes usually had many hundreds if they were made for a useful purpose" ( ibid). It was presumably during the 1700s that the building was converted into a dovecote, presumably by the Berkeley family. The Tower is in the care of The National Trust The images are archival
