Shell Grotto, Margate

Summary

Underground structure decorated with seashells The dome inside the Shell Grotto The Shell Grotto, sometimes called the Shell Temple, is an ornate underground shell grotto in the seaside town of Margate, Kent, England. The grotto, which has a passageway and main room, was dug out from chalk, a soft limestone common in this region. 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, with approximately 4.6 million shells. Its age, creators, and purpose are unknown, which has inspired a wide range of speculation, although several other shell grottos in England were made in the 18th century. This grotto was rediscovered in about 1835 and first opened to the public as a privately-owned tourist attraction in 1837.[1] The grotto is a Grade I-listed building[1] and remains open to the public. Attached to the grotto is a modern museum room, cafe, and gift shop.[2] Structure and decoration[edit] Inside the Shell Grotto The Shell Grotto consists of a winding subterranean passageway, about 8 feet (2.4 m) high and 70 feet (21 m) in length, terminating in a rectangular room, referred to as the "altar chamber" and measuring approximately 15 by 20 ft (5 by 6 m). The grotto is entirely underground. Steps at the upper end lead into a passage about 3 feet 6 inches (1.07 m) wide, roughly hewn out of the chalk, which winds down in serpentine fashion until it reaches an arch, the walls and roof of which here onward are covered in with shell mosaic. The arch leads to what is known as the "rotunda", a central circular column, meeting at the farther side at the dome — a shaft rising to the surface, capped to allow some daylight into the structure. The sub-base of the dome is triangular, equilateral, and with an arch in the centre of each side. The two arches in the sides are those leading from the rotunda, whilst the arch in the base leads into the "serpentine passage". This passage, with...