The Dovecote

A dovecote is the name for a structure to house pigeons. The dovecote is the surviving one of two built on the farm by the Macarthurs in what was the farm's horse yards so pigeons could eat grain that fell from the feed troughs, to stop a build-up of rats and mice. Pigeons were also kept for the table, in other words, for eating.

The use of natural tree trunks in the construction of the dovecote is typical of the Gardenesque, a rustic style popular in England from the early 1800s. It is just a myth that the Macarthurs used pigeons to send messages between their farms at Parramatta and Camden.

The horse yards on this site housed stallions that were bred on Camden Park or purchased. They included the Suffolk Punch which is an English breed of draft horse used to haul heavy loads or pull ploughs and other agricultural implements.