Grotto Cottage is a Grade II listed building in the Test Valley local planning authority area, England. First listed on 17 November 1986. Cottage. 2 related planning applications.

Grotto Cottage

WRENN ID
fallen-bronze-blackthorn
Grade
II
Local Planning Authority
Test Valley
Constituency
Romsey and Southampton North MP: Caroline Nokes (Con)
Country
England
Date first listed
17 November 1986
Type
Cottage
Address
Grotto Cottage, Ryedown Lane, Wellow, SO51 6BD
OS grid reference
SU 329 199
Coordinates
50.97822, -1.53254
Source
Historic England listing

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

Description

Grotto Cottage is an early 19th-century cottage built for the Nightingale family, featuring an attached grotto. The cottage is constructed from rustic flint nodules and knapped flint, with brick dressings and a slate roof. It is one and a half stories tall and has two bays, typical of early 19th-century design, with the grotto located in front of the right bay. The roof has a crenellated dormer. The entrance is at the end of the building, while the left bay features a two-light pointed casement window. The front of the right bay's grotto has a three-order pointed arch made of flint nodules, with a recessed three-light Gothic window inside. Above the barge boards, there is a low-pitched roof, and behind the crenellated dormer, there is a small two-light pointed stone window. The main building has a central ridge stack.

Local climate

Grotto Cottage receives an average of 790 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 58% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 60% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 29 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 68% of listed buildings. Of these, 11 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.

More on this building

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  • No EPC on record for this property
  • No sale records on file
  • Related listed building consents — 2 applications
  • 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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