Grotto And Entrances Flanking And Below Road About 50 Metres North East Of Brockley Hall

ST 46 NE BROCKLEY BROCKLEY LANE Grotto and entrances flanking 24/4D and below road about fifty metres north-east of Brockley Hall.

GV II

Grotto and entrances. c1800. Rubble, dashed stucco, freestone. A tunnel linking main garden to decorative walled garden. A sinuous ramp descends between dry stone walls, it is flanked at ground level by a pair of sphynxes, a segmental arch tunnel is entered through a double arch, above the entrance is a plaque with Latin inscription: "QUIS QUIS HUC ACCEDIS/QUOD TIBI HORRENDUM VIDETUR/MIHI AMOENUM EST/SI DELECTA MANEAS/SI TAEDAT ABEAS/UTRUM QUE GRATUM". Within the tunnel, which still bears remnants of stucco dashed with quartz chips, are 3 segmental headed niches, 2 are now empty, but one contains an odalisque, somewhat damaged; at the far side, 14 steps rise as a dog-leg between dry stone walls. This is the surviving fragment of a large collection of statuary and garden ornaments which adorned the Smyth-Piggott estate at Brockley Hall, which was itself more art repository then residence.

Listing NGR: ST4693367342