Aldro Dovecote/Granary

This is an octagonal brick granary two floors high with a conical roof. The upper storey was later converted to a dove house but the nesting boxes have gone. Date probably early nineteenth century.

The granary is set beside the front of the house and. is a feature of the grounds as seen from the drive. It is set on eight brick staddles topped with stone cappings. There is a central staddle from a lower brick floor. Arches in brick support the granary which now has a stone stair up to the granary floor. There are elegant pointed windows to each face at first floor level and only one window which replaces an upper door to the second floor.

The brick staddles are angled inside to fit the octagonal shape and. the ‘undercroft’ is a satisfying feature of the building.

The granary floor may have had bins as the lining boarding has empty mortices for a possible crossing structure. There is a ladder stair to the upper floor with a half- way landing. The spine beam crossing is set diagonally to the door. The floor beam crosses in line with the door, supported by the central pillar and over the arches below, and not over a staddle.

The upper wall is rendered over brick set in Flemish bonding. Now the roof structure is exposed but there had been a ceiling here. The one window was formerly a door size. There is no indication of bins, so probably sacks had been hoisted up to this floor. There is no indication of a hoist.

The upper floor is a railway club room, and the lower floor is used for tutorials. It is the finest granary which we have seen in the county (126 have been recorded). There are other two-storey granaries either in brick or boarded, but this is an architectural feature of the estate.

Links below:

aldro dovecote sketch

aldro dovecote plan

Recorded by Marjorie Stevens, Joan Harding, Elizabeth Hunot, Joan Oldroyd September 1984

Report by Joan Harding October 1984
Copyright Domestic Buildings Research Group (Surrey) 1984
Grid ref: SU934 45
DBRG no.3160