Dovecotes in French are colombiers, or more often, pigeonniers. They are buildings in which to house and raise domestic pigeons.
Chateau du Petit-Thouars, near Chinon.
The word colombier comes from the Latin, but since the 18th century the term pigeonnier has more commonly been used and colombier has become obsolete. The term colombier is restricted to free standing towers, or housing for homing pigeons. They generally date from the Renaissance up to the 20th century. Modern changes in agriculture, especially the increasing cultivation of crops such as sugarbeet, have led to the raising of pigeons becoming obsolete (ie farms were not necessarily raising enough cereal to feed pigeons).
Chateau du Petit-Thouars, near Chinon.
There is a third word in French to designate a dovecote -- sometimes, especially in the Touraine, they are called a fuie. The term dates from the early 12th century and implies a refuge. They are small scale and able to be closed with a shutter, mainly used more domestically for personal consumption of a modest individual household. These dovecotes are modifications to existing buildings rather than freestanding purpose built constructions.
Chateau du Petit-Thouars, near Chinon.
Dovecotes come in quite a range of sizes and architectural styles. Amongst a dozen other areas scattered across France the Touraine is rather well known for its extant dovecotes. The most common style in the Touraine is the cylindrical tower, dating from the 14th to the 16th century. These were generally topped with tiles, but may have a cupola and a lantern. They have a single dormer entrance, and exterior ledges for the pigeons to land and take off from.
Chateau du Petit-Thouars, near Chinon.
The interior of a pigeonnier has niches known in French as boulins. Each niche houses a pair of birds. The boulins can be made of stone, brick or daub, and made as part of the construction, or they can be ceramic or wicker and added later. There are several dovecotes in France with 2000 or more niches. The number of niches is a sign of wealth and indicates how much land the owner is cultivating. It was not unknown for socially climbing dovecote owners to add fake niches, to try to hoodwink the families they wished to marry into.
Chateau du Petit-Thouars, near Chinon.
Inside the dovecote is a honeycomb of niches. Up to about 80 cm from the ground is empty, to prevent predators from climbing up. In the centre is a mechanism to which one or two ladders are attached, and it can be swung all the way around to give access to the nests at any height, so they can be cleaned, and the 4-5 week old squabs taken for the table. Troughs for water and food were placed on the floor. The entry window opening could be closed by a wooden grill operated from the ground by a pulley.
Chaumussay.
It seems to have been the Romans who introduced the practice of raising pigeons in France. In the Middle Ages dovecotes supplied a luxury food, but also an important source of fertiliser, that could help enrich the local Lord. Pigeon guano was used up until the mid-20th century as fertiliser. At the end of the 19th century it was estimated that 2 million pigeons were consumed in the City of Paris per year.
Private garden, Chinon.
Property owners had to apply for the right to erect a dovecote, and its size had to reflect the importance of the property. They were often placed over a chook shed, a kennel, a bread oven or a pantry. Generally the smaller ones were integrated into a stable, barn, or shed. Owners had to prove a minimum of 25 hectares of land was being cultivated if they wanted up to 120 niches.
Boussay.
Whilst the pigeons produced an excellent fertiliser, they were still viewed as a menace at seed sowing time. During that season the birds were shut up in their dovecotes.
Fortified farm, Vesvre (Neuilly Deux Clochers).
After the Revolution raising pigeons by commoners became a symbol of what had been won, and niches were added to many houses.
Les Louroux.
Dovecotes need to be positioned away from large trees to prevent raptors from staking them out. Likewise they need features to discourage predation by rodents and mustelids (martens and weasels), for example smooth tiled or plastered surrounds to the entrances, or being elevated off the ground on a central pole.
Chateau de Valencay, Antan.
Nowadays, small dovecotes are erected by municipalities who want to encourage pigeons to nest somewhere convenient and not on street lights and window ledges. The municipal dovecotes are usually managed so eggs are systematically sterilised, in order to reduce and control the urban pigeon population.
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