Cotswold Stable and Dovecote in Greenfield Village, September 2007

This barn and stable were part of the Cotswold Cottage original site. The larger portion was the barn, used for storing and threshing grain. The wide doors and high ceilings gave room for threshing with a flail, or storing a cart. The smaller portion was the stable, likely for a cow or ox. The low ceilings keep the stable warmer.

Henry and Clara Ford were avid birders and built this dovecote, modeled on one in Chesham, England. Dovecotes, which could only be owned by privileged landlords, were built to attract roosting birds, which helped control insects and provided manure for fertilizer. The nests could be reached from inside the dovecote where the eggs could be gathered, or birds trapped for food.