Shell grotto

A shell grotto is a type of folly, a grotto decorated with sea shells. The shell grotto was a popular feature of British country house in the 17th and 18th centuries. It suited the Baroque and Rococo styles (which used swirling motifs similar to sea shells)[1] and often represented the mimicry of architectural features from the Italian Renaissance (themselves copies from Classical times). The idea of a grotto was originally a means to enhance a dank undercroft, or provide an antechamber before a piano nobile, but later it became a garden feature independent of the house, sometimes on the edge of a lake, with water flowing through it.

Detail of the Shell Grotto, Nienoord, Netherlands, in a rectangular wooden pavilion, c. 1700.

Part of the Shell Grotto in Margate

History

Early grottos were mainly of the shell grotto type, mimicking a sea-cave, or in the form of a nymphaeum. The shells were often laid out in strict patterns in contemporary decorative styles used for plasterwork and the like. Later there was a move towards more naturalistic cave-like grottoes,[1] sometimes showing the early influence of the Romantic movement.

The porch of Scott's Grotto today.

The first recorded shell grotto in England was at Whitehall Palace; James I had it built in the undercroft of the Banqueting House in 1624, but it hasn't survived. Two years later the Duke of Bedford had a shell room built at Woburn Abbey, featuring shell mosaics and carved stone. This, and another at Skipton Castle, built in 1627, are the only surviving examples from the 17th century.[1]

The shell-free Crystal Grotto at Painshill

Shell grottoes were an expensive luxury: The grotto at Oatlands Park cost £25,000 in 1781 and took 11 years to build; and at Fisherwick Park the Marquess of Donegall spent £10,000 on shells alone in 1789.[2] The Grotto at Margate has 2000 square feet of mosaic, using some 4.6 million shells.

By the end of the 18th century, fashion had moved on to more naturalistic cave-like structures, like the weathered rock and crystal "Crystal Grotto" at Painshill in Surrey, before falling out of favour altogether. Many were demolished or have fallen into disrepair, but some 200 grottos of all types are known to have survived in some form in the UK.[1]

Examples

Goldney Hall, Bristol, England, begun 1737

• Shell Grotto, Margate, an example in Margate, Kent, England
• Shell Grotto, Pontypool, another in Pontypool, Wales
• Scott's Grotto, a shell grotto in Ware, Hertfordshire, England
• The Shell Room at Woburn Abbey, the earliest surviving 17th-century shell grotto[3]
• The east tower of Skipton Castle's gatehouse contains a 17th-century shell grotto
• Shell Grotto, Nienoord, a "treasury" at the Nienoord estate in Leek, Netherlands, c. 1700
• The Shell Grotto at Château de Vendeuvre
• The Shell-lined grotto at Goldney Hall, Bristol, England, begun 1737
• The Shell Grotto at Endsleigh Cottage, England
• Headley-Whitney Museum, in Lexington, Kentucky, US where a former three car garage was transformed into a shell grotto
• The Shell House in Terrington, N Yorkshire UK
• The former Paua House in Bluff, New Zealand, now partly re-created at Canterbury Museum, Christchurch
• Shell-covered gardening sheds in Grosvenor Gardens, London

See also

• Shellcraft

References

1. Hazelle Jackson, Shell Houses and Grottoes ( 2001) ISBN 9780747805229 (abstract)
2. The 4 poshest garden grottoes Tatler 27 July 2015; retrieved 30 July 2018
3. The Grotto at woburnabbey.co.uk