Phantassie Doocot

On our travels around East Lothian, we came across the wonderfully named Phantassie Doocot close to the quirky Preston Mill. Phantassie is a great word and means 'damp, gentle slope', which describes the area perfectly.

This doocot was built in the 1500s and contains 544 nest boxes for pigeons, which is still used by the birds today. We couldn't have a peek inside sadly, but we think it must look something like the photo below which was taken inside the doocot at Dirleton Castle around 14 km away.

It is a beehive doocot, which refers to a traditional circular structure made from local stone. Many of the older doocots were this 'beehive' design, however, they became fancier and more ornate into the 18th century. A doocot was a symbol of wealth back in the day, so they were a valuable property for the landowner.

The birds would enter through the sixteen vents on the roof and find themselves a home inside. Pigeons are greedy birds and can eat around 100kg of grain in a year and farmers were glad to see the back of them. So as well as nesting places for the birds, the doocot provided meat and eggs to the landowners. Young squabs were eaten at Phantassie House, which was the birthplace of Scottish engineer, John Rennie (1761-1821).

The doocot is owned and managed by National Trust for Scotland and was given to the charity by William Hamilton of Phantassie Farm in 1961.

There are around 100 doocots left in East Lothian including Markle Dovecot not too far away. We don't have plans to look for all of them just yet, as we are still trying to find 400 Northumbrian lime kilns. There's just not enough time in the day!