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Roade Dove Cote
Above half a mile to the west of the village of Roade stands the farmhouse of Hyde, a massive building of early date,with a pointed doorway, now inside the house, and an ornamenal porch.
A short distance to the south-east of the farmhouse stands the Dove Cote here illustrated. This is built of local limestone, and is circular in form. The diameter inside on the ground level is 22 feet, and the walls are 2 feet 11 inches thick. The height to the upper string course is 11 feet 4 inches, and about another 2 feet to the top of the walls; some of the old timbers remain across the walls, but excepte for these the whole of the roof has fallen in,and the building is entirely open to the weather. The door faces the south-west, and is very small, the opening in the wall being only 4 feet 9 inches high and 2 feet 10 inches wide,. The frame work is of oak and is original, but the door is modern.The iron work, however, appears to be old, and is of curious arrangement.There are three hinges, the middle one of which comes right across the back of the door, and is then bent round at right angles, and comes through the left-hand post when the door is closed, and it is wormed so as to be fixed on the outside by some kind of nut. The ladder, or at least the swinging post and one or two cross-pieces, still remain, but it is very dilapidated. There are some 340 nests, which are in good repair. On the south side there is a window, the sill of which is 5 feet 6 inches from the ground,and it is 2 feet 3 inches high be 2 feet 10 inches wide. At the present time this building appears to be exactly like the lower part of a windmill, and it is only on seeing the nests inside that one learns the purpose for which this structure was erected. It is not easy to assign a date to this Dove Cote, as it has absolutely no architectural features. The house was probabaly erected in the 15th century, but it is not at all likely that the Dove Cote was then built, though it may have been constructed in the 18th century, when the house was altered, and a stone placed in the wall with the letters and date
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