[3] There is no documentary evidence for the dovecote's date of construction but it some of the architectural features suggest it may have been as long ago as the 14th century.

The priory was abolished in the dissolution of the monasteries in 1539, and property belonging to it was sold to the Luttrell family of Dunster Castle.

The lower tiers of nest holes were blocked to protect against brown rats which had arrived in the Britain in 1720 and reached Somerset by 1760.

The head of the pin sits in a metal cup in the base of the wooden pillar, which means the mechanism has never had to be oiled.

[6] When the Dunster Castle estate was sold the dovecote was bought by the Parochial church council and opened to the public.