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Inside Margate's Shell Grotto
Margate's Shell Grotto was discovered in 1835, although its actual age and origin is unknown.
The grotto is a 70ft passageway ending at the Altar Room, a small rectangular chamber 15 by 20ft.
The grotto gets its name from the 4.6m shells that decorate the interior with geometric patterns and stylised imagery.
The Shell Grotto is an ornate subterranean passageway in Margate, Kent. Almost all the surface area of the walls and roof is covered in mosaics created entirely of seashells, totalling about 2,000 square feet (190 m2) of mosaic, or 4.6 million shells. It was discovered in 1835 but its age remains unknown. The grotto is a Grade I listed building and is open to the public.
Scott's Grotto in Ware, Hertfordshire, is a Grade I listed building[ and with six chambers the most extensive shell grotto in the United Kingdom.
The grotto was formerly in the garden of Amwell House. Its construction may have taken several years and was completed by John Scott, an 18th-century Quaker poet who inherited Amwell House from his father in 1768. Scott also had other romantic features built in his garden, including an octagonal gazebo on the hillside above.
The grotto was acquired by East Hertfordshire District Council in 1974, and was restored in 1990–91 by the Ware Society. The works included a reconstruction of the entrance hall that had been demolished in 1960: a small fragment of the demolished Berlin Wall was inserted in the entrance hall as a time marker. The architect for the restoration was James Howley and the project manager David Perman, Hon. Secretary of the Ware Society.
The grotto and gardens are now owned and managed by the Scott's Grotto Trust, Charity Number 1180709.
Inside Margate's Shell Grotto
Margate's Shell Grotto was discovered in 1835, although its actual age and origin is unknown.
The grotto is a 70ft passageway ending at the Altar Room, a small rectangular chamber 15 by 20ft.
The grotto gets its name from the 4.6m shells that decorate the interior with geometric patterns and stylised imagery.
Views of the Shell Grotto, Margate. 4.6 million shells along a 104 feet long tunnel. No-one knows who built it, when or why.
Creation in the Shell Grotto, Margate
Margate's Shell Grotto was discovered in 1835, although its actual age and origin is unknown.
The grotto is a 70ft passageway ending at the Altar Room, a small rectangular chamber 15 by 20ft.
The grotto gets its name from the 4.6m shells that decorate the interior with geometric patterns and stylised imagery.
An absolute must see if you are in the area. 4.6 million shells ! Here is a link to some more info : www.shellgrotto.co.uk/
Inside Margate's Shell Grotto
Margate's Shell Grotto was discovered in 1835, although its actual age and origin is unknown.
The grotto is a 70ft passageway ending at the Altar Room, a small rectangular chamber 15 by 20ft.
The grotto gets its name from the 4.6m shells that decorate the interior with geometric patterns and stylised imagery.
The Shell Grotto. Discovered in 1835, the Shell Grotto is a 104-foot long underground chamber, the walls of which are decorated with 4.6 million sea shells, making over 2,000 square feet of shell "mosaic". Nobody knows how old it is - ideas range from a Roman Temple to a Georgian folly. Carbon-dating of some of the shells has allegedly been inconclusive.
Views of the Shell Grotto, Margate. 4.6 million shells along a 104 feet long tunnel. No-one knows who built it, when or why.
Shell Grotto, Margate, Kent, England. In 1835 Mr James Newlove lowered his son into a hole in the ground while digging a pond. The young boy re-appeared and spoke of an underground labyrinth of chambers covered in strange symbolic mosaics of shells. It is still unclear exactly what the purpose of this grotto was but many believe it to have been an ancient pagan temple, whilst others dismiss it as being the meeting place of a strange cult.
Margate, Kent, England. In 1835 Mr James Newlove lowered his son into a hole in the ground while digging a pond. The young boy re-appeared and spoke of an underground labyrinth of chambers covered in strange symbolic mosaics of shells. It is still unclear exactly what the purpose of this grotto was but many believe it to have been an ancient pagan temple, whilst others dismiss it as being the meeting place of a strange cult.
Below Cliff House is a cliff top rotunda or grotto. It was built in 9154 and consits of an observation platfrom above a shell grotto and gives a great view of the estaury
Portmeirion is a model village built by its founder, the architect Sir Clough Williams-Ellis. He wanted to demonstrate that a naturally beautiful site could be developed without spoiling it, and that architecture in sympathy with its surroundings could be good business. His motto was "Cherish the past, Adorn the present, Construct for the future".
Clough acquired the site in 1925 for around £20,000. It was then, as Clough wrote, "a neglected wilderness. Clough immediately changed the name from Aber Iâ (Glacial Estuary) to Portmeirion: Port because of the coastal location and Meirion as this is Welsh for Merioneth, the county in which it lay.
The concept of a tightly grouped coastal village had already formed in Clough's mind some years before he found the perfect site. Clough sometimes later suggested the development was unplanned but drawings and models suggest otherwise. It appears that he had quite a well defined vision for the village from the outset and that to a large extent he stuck to it. Portmeirion was built in two stages: from 1925 to 1939 the site was 'pegged-out' and its most distinctive buildings were erected. From 1954-76 he filled in the details. The second period was typically classical or Palladian in style in contrast to the Arts and Crafts style of his earlier work. Several buildings were salvaged from demolition sites, giving rise to Clough's description of the place as "a home for fallen buildings".
www.portmeirion-village.com/visit/clough-williams-ellis/h...
Views of the Shell Grotto, Margate. 4.6 million shells along a 104 feet long tunnel. No-one knows who built it, when or why.
Inside Margate's Shell Grotto
Margate's Shell Grotto was discovered in 1835, although its actual age and origin is unknown.
The grotto is a 70ft passageway ending at the Altar Room, a small rectangular chamber 15 by 20ft.
The grotto gets its name from the 4.6m shells that decorate the interior with geometric patterns and stylised imagery.