1700–1730
Early eighteenth-century windmill built
Monkton, Whiteside, Dovecot was built as an early eighteenth-century vaulted tower windmill.
Site overview
Monkton, Whiteside, Dovecot stands near Monkton on the former Orangefield estate. It began as an early eighteenth-century vaulted tower windmill and was later converted into a dovecot. The surviving structure is a tapered rubble tower with a vaulted basement, later roof and former nesting-box fittings.
Map
Map markers and directions links are provided for location reference only and do not indicate public access or permission to enter a site.
No site photograph is currently available. Images will be added as field visits are carried out.
History
Monkton, Whiteside, Dovecot is a former vaulted tower windmill at Monkton in South Ayrshire. The windmill was built in the early eighteenth century and was one of the Scottish vaulted tower type, with a fixed stone tower, a movable cap and a vaulted chamber or basement. The surviving shell stands about 9 metres high, with rubble walls, opposed doorways and upper openings.
The windcap, sails and milling machinery have gone. The tower was converted into a dovecot in the early nineteenth century, when nesting boxes and a potence were added. The building was listed on 14 April 1971.
No complete ownership sequence, machinery inventory, or final windmill working date has been established from the sources checked.
Timeline
1773
Windmill recorded
Monkton windmill was recorded in 1773.
1800–1830
Converted to dovecot
The former windmill tower was converted into a dovecot in the early nineteenth century.
1971
Listed building designation
Monkton, Whiteside, Dovecot was listed on 14 April 1971.
Sources and records
Historic Environment Scotland listed building record; Trove / Canmore place record; Scottish Windmills: An Outline and Inventory; Historic Ordnance Survey mapping