Grotto at Former Hagley Hall (Ngr0395 1800) is a Grade II listed building in the Cannock Chase local planning authority area, England. First listed on 5 July 1972. Grotto.

Grotto at Former Hagley Hall (Ngr0395 1800)

WRENN ID
drifting-render-pine
Grade
II
Local Planning Authority
Cannock Chase
Constituency
Cannock Chase MP: Josh Newbury (Lab)
Country
England
Date first listed
5 July 1972
Type
Grotto
Address
Grotto at Former Hagley Hall (Ngr0395 1800), Rugeley
OS grid reference
SK 039 179
Coordinates
52.75958, -1.94283
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The grotto at the former Hagley Hall, dating from the late 18th century, is carved from red sandstone bedrock with seams of gravel. It consists of a series of interconnected underground chambers. A plain roughcast arched portal in a steep bank leads into an aisled antechurch featuring groin vaults. At the end of the antechurch is a rotunda, which is a circular chamber supported by a colonnade of six Tuscan columns with plain capitals and abaci, holding up an entablature and a saucer-shaped dome.

At the north end of the antechurch, a vaulted passage turns north, leading to an antechamber with arcaded walls, a cornice, and a hipped ceiling. From the antechamber, a tunnel-vaulted passage leads to the basilica, which has three-bay aisle arcades with large square piers, plain capitals, round arches, and groin vaults in both the nave and aisles. At the liturgical east end of the nave, there is a round-headed apse containing a pedestal-type altar. An inclined passage from the antechamber leads up to the surface.

James Wyatt designed an octagonal drawing room in 1771 for Assheton Curzon of Hagley Hall, which was demolished around 1932.

Local climate

Grotto at Former Hagley Hall (Ngr0395 1800) receives an average of 820 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 53% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 68% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 40 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 77% of listed buildings. Of these, 20 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

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