The Grotto at Head of Happy Valley is a Grade II listed building in the Wokingham local planning authority area, England. First listed on 26 January 1967. Grotto.
The Grotto at Head of Happy Valley
- WRENN ID
- rooted-string-yarrow
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- Wokingham
- Constituency
- Wokingham MP: Clive Jones (LD)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 26 January 1967
- Type
- Grotto
- Address
- The Grotto at Head of Happy Valley, Remenham
- OS grid reference
- SU 779 817
- Coordinates
- 51.52928, -0.8771
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Grotto at the head of Happy Valley is an 18th-century grotto. It features a long vaulted gallery that is both cut into and built from chalk, located under a slope at the top of the valley. The outer face of the grotto has a series of six arches. On either side of the grotto are flanking structures made of brick and flint, which were originally designed to represent 'Grecian ruins' but are now in a much more ruinous state. These structures are reputed to have been designed by James Stuart. The grotto was accessed by a tunnel from a point approximately 120 metres to the north, although the entrance to this tunnel has mostly collapsed. It was formerly part of the Park Place estate.
Local climate
The Grotto at Head of Happy Valley sits in a drier-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 720 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 81% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 77% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 34 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 50% of listed buildings. Of these, 14 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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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- No related consent applications matched
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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