At the recent reopening of the splendidly restored Jaipur Gateway in the grounds of Hove Museum, I was startled, even shocked, that Councillor Sue John's speech contained no reference to a tower surrounded by some smaller ones.

No, not that one.

I refer to the remarkable Baroda Pigeon House.

set of towers, the largest of which stood 20ft high. As Judy Middleton's invaluable Encyclopedia Of Hove documents, these were presented to Queen Victoria by the Gaekwar of Baroda, who had been installed by the British as a ruler in place of one who had literally quashed subjects' objections by having their heads placed beneath elephants' feet.

The Pigeon House - built of teak and decorated with mouldings of birds and animals - came to Hove with the Gateway in 1926.

Presumably, better-off pigeons inhabited the main section, the others accepting a perch in the four "affordable" towers. Alas, it was allowed to decay and was removed in 1959. As far as anybody knows, it was then destroyed. What vandalism. Who could have been so callous as to consign it to the flames?

At the recent reopening ceremony, on a sunny morning redolent of an Edwardian summer on the lawn, I showed people a picture of the Pigeon House and there was a universal desire to honour Hove with a replica of one of its finest structures.

What an opportunity for craftsmen to demonstrate their skill at recreating a design which weaves in and out with a bravura that would leave Frank Gehry gasping.

As one resident said, there would surely be Lottery funding for something which had there-and-then caught the public imagination.

Many local businesses would wish to be part of an endeavour which, as with the Carnegie Library, is sure to bring Hove more national attention.

The Victorian Society would surely support it, along with English Heritage. Is it too much to hope Brighton and Hove City Council will rise to the challenge for such a landmark next to the Gateway?

-Christopher Hawtree, Westbourne Gardens, Hove