 The manor previously belonged to Montacute Priory, a Cluniac priory of the Benedictine order, founded between 1078 and 1102 although it is not known if the construction of the dovecote was undertaken by the priory or the Lovel family who later held the manor.Pigeons and doves were an important food source historically kept for their eggs, flesh (squab), and dung.The dovecote which forms part of the property of the Holnicote Estate, was donated to the National Trust by Sir Richard Thomas Dyke Acland, 15th Baronet in 1944.