At Chastleton House there is a dovecote in the field over the road that is all that remains of another house there (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1. Dovecote near Chastleton House.

It dates from 1762. It is square in plan, with four arches on the ground floor under which sheep now shelter, and an upper storey with round openings on each side and a roof deriving from a gable on each side. At the corners, clearly part of the design, are waterspouts of channel type (Figs 2–3).

Water spout of dovecote near Chastleton House.

Water spout of dovecote near Chastleton House.

There are similar spouts on the Montacute pavilion, but they look like later additions that have been cut into the guttering. (Fig. 4). The waterspouts on this dovecote are clearly part of the original design, even if they have been renewed, so perhaps the Montacute spouts were originally here.

Water spouts, pavilion at Montacute House, Somerset.