Swavesey Memorial Hall

Swavesey Memorial Hall was built in 1919. It has a number of Swifts and House Sparrows breeding under open eaves. As part of the Over and Swavesey Swift Conservation project, we devised a way of adding more nest boxes on the gable.

The gable faces NW

The challenge is to do something that does not compromise the appearance of the building. The eaves of the gable are about 170mm wide and over 200mm deep, so there is plenty of space to hide some nest boxes out of sight.

4 double boxes

The design is a simple shoebox, installed sloping parallel to the eaves, but with a horizontal nest platform at the bottom of the slope. 4 double boxes were built, 2 for each side of the apex.

The slope is grooved to give the swifts some grip. The result is not unattractive and achieves the goal of preserving the appearance of the building.

The team was Bill Murrells, Bruce Martin and Dick Newell, with John Stimpson helping with minor adjustments.

8 nest chambers ready for Swifts or Sparrows

Design drawing