Dovecotes

Dovecotes
Dovecotes

 Dovecotes shown within the West Midlands
OS grid reference SJ894021
    - London  146.00 
Metropolitan borough Wolverhampton
Metropolitan county West Midlands
Region West Midlands
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town WOLVERHAMPTON
Postcode district WV8
Dialling code 01902
Police West Midlands
Fire West Midlands
Ambulance West Midlands
EU Parliament West Midlands
UK Parliament Wolverhampton
List of places: UK • England • West Midlands

Dovecotes is a housing estate at Barnhurst, Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. It is situated NNW of the city centre and neighbours Pendeford which is adjacent to the border with Staffordshire, within the Oxley ward of Wolverhampton City Council.

Contents

Place name and history

The Dovecotes housing estate, situated along Ryfield off Barnhurst Lane and The Droveway, has only existed since the late 1970s, being built on land previously belonging to Barnhurst farm. The place name is listed historically as 'Barnhurst', with the earliest reference to it as Barinhurst(1250), from old English 'bere-ærn' (barn) and 'hyrst' (wooded hill).[1] The canons of Tettenhall held an estate here in the late 13th century. A moated farm complete with dovecote and ponds existed in the area of the present day church. Wolverhampton Corporation bought the Barnhurst estate in 1867, developing part of the area as a sewerage farm by 1870. The farm was demolished and replaced in 1963. The brick gatehouse, built in 1602 was demolished in 1961. Barnhurst farm was operated by Wolverhampton Corporation until 1975, with the housing estate coming a short while later.[2]

Today

The housing estate on Barnhurst was given the name Dovecotes, after the old farm Dovecote that is still standing,[3] and was restored in 2004. The Dovecote pub stood on the site of the farmhouse, though this closed in the 2000s and is now a Seventh Day Adventist church.

Shopping and Amenities

There is a small shopping parade within Dovecotes known as The Haymarket. There is a Premier Store named Pendeford Superstore (Previously Spar), a Chinese take away, fish & chip shop, and a wholesale poultry factory (Dovecotes Poultry Products), there was once a Newsagent, Bookmaker and more but these have long closed.

The Haymarket is due redevelopment with rumours of demolition and a complete rebuild.

References

  1. ^ Horovitz, David (2005). The Place-Names of Staffordshire. ISBN 0-9550309-0-0. 
  2. ^ Clayton, Phil. "The history of Pendeford - Barnhurst". http://www.localhistory.scit.wlv.ac.uk. http://www.localhistory.scit.wlv.ac.uk/articles/Pendeford/Barnhurst.htm. Retrieved 28 November 2011. 
  3. ^ [http://www.localhistory.scit.wlv.ac.uk/listed/dovecote.htm "Wolverhampton's Listed Buildings The Dovecote"]. http://www.localhistory.scit.wlv.ac.uk. http://www.localhistory.scit.wlv.ac.uk/listed/dovecote.htm. Retrieved 28 November 2011.