The remains of a fernery approximately 100m north-east of East Dene house

The remains of a fernery with a grotto at the north end, built in the mid or late C19, part of the former East Dene estate.

MATERIALS: the walls are constructed of large rubble stone.

EXTERIOR: the building is partially sunken and has become covered in vegetation. The south gable-end wall has a central pointed-arch entranceway; the door is no longer extant. The side stone walls are low and their external face sits partially below the surrounding ground level. The north end, containing the grotto, extends beyond the main wall and is covered by an earthen mound. The glass roof is no longer extant.

INTERIOR: at the centre of the building is a stone-lined oblong planting area. The north-end wall incorporates bowl-shaped stone shelves which would have been used to propagate and display ferns. In the middle of the north wall is the entrance to the round-arch roofed grotto-style deep alcove; this part of the building includes a central sunken stone-lined floor which may have held water, and there are further stone shelves within the grotto walls.