Grotto 250 Metres South East of St Giles House is a Grade II* listed building in the Dorset local planning authority area, England. First listed on 3 April 1986. Grotto.
Grotto 250 Metres South East of St Giles House
- WRENN ID
- wild-lantern-dale
- Grade
- II*
- Local Planning Authority
- Dorset
- Constituency
- North Dorset MP: Simon Hoare (Con)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 3 April 1986
- Type
- Grotto
- OS grid reference
- SU 034 114
- Coordinates
- 50.90226, -1.95233
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The grotto, built in the 1750s by Castles of Marylebone, is located 250 meters southeast of St Giles House in Wimborne St Giles. Constructed from flint and rubble, it features a tiled and slated roof. The grotto is currently overgrown and in a state of dereliction, obscuring much of its structure. It is designed to appear as the source of a spring that feeds the ornamental lake. The grotto has three rounded arches, with the central arch leading into the main grotto and the outer arches accessing subsidiary compartments.
The main grotto, which is difficult to enter now, has walls adorned with shells, fossils, coral, and stone, all mounted on a lathe and plaster vault that is partially collapsed. It consists of two chambers, with the innermost chamber reportedly containing a 19th-century tiled floor and fireplace. The subsidiary compartments feature flints suspended from iron hooks. The main grotto is accessed through a plank door. This grotto is an important example of its type but is currently in considerable disrepair.
Local climate
Grotto 250 Metres South East of St Giles House receives an average of 800 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 54% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 70% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 21 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 78% of listed buildings. Of these, 8 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
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- 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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