Hygga House Dovecote, Trellech

The Dovecote, Hygga, Trellech, Monmouthshire is a late 16th-century dovecote, in an unusually complete state of preservation. Part of the service buildings for the, now demolished, Hygga House, the dovecote is a Grade II* listed building.

Hygga House Dovecote
"a particularly fine and complete example"
TypeDovecote
LocationHygga, Trellech, Monmouthshire, Wales
Coordinates51.7292°N 2.7462°W / 51.7292; -2.7462
Builtlate 16th century
Architectural style(s)Vernacular
Governing bodyPrivately owned
Listed Building – Grade II*
Official nameDovecote at Hygga House
Designated1 May 1952
Reference no.2071
Official nameDovecote at Hygga Farm
Reference no.MM150
Location of Hygga House Dovecote in Monmouthshire

History and description

The origin of the name Hygga is Old Norse, meaning "to comfort".[1] In the 16th century, a substantial mansion, Hygga House,[2] stood on the site but it has since been demolished.[2] The dovecote, along with some large barns, comprised a range of service buildings for the house.[2] In a poor state of repair for over two centuries, the dovecote was fully restored in the 1980s and now forms a rare example of a complete 16th-century dovecote.[lower-alpha 1][4] Sir Cyril Fox and Lord Raglan, in their three-volume guide Monmouthshire Houses, note the rarity of such dovecotes within the county, citing one at Llantellen, Skenfrith as the only other known example.[5] The architectural historian John Newman gives a dating for the dovecote, and the associated barns, of c.1600.[6]

The dovecote is constructed of limewashed stone rubble, with a "stone-slated conical roof".[2] Unusually for a dovecote, it has windows with ovolo mullions.[4] Above the windows are six tiers of nesting boxes, set into the wall.[4] The dovecote is a Grade II* listed building, its listing recording the dovecote as a "particularly fine and complete example".[4]

Footnotes

  1. Although Cadw clearly records the restoration as taking place "in the 1980s", Elisabeth Whittle, in her study, A Guide to Ancient and Historic Wales: Glamorgan and Gwent, published in 1992, described it as "a circular stone dovecote, whose tiled roof has fallen in".[3]

References

  1. Parkinson, Justin (2 October 2015). "Hygge: A heart-warming lesson from Denmark" via www.bbc.co.uk.
  2. Newman 2000, p. 578.
  3. Whittle 1992, p. 194.
  4. Cadw. "Dovecote at Hygga House  (Grade II*) (2071)". National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  5. Fox & Raglan 1994, p. 124.
  6. Newman 2009, p. 339.

Sources

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