The Shell House And Grotto

The Shell House and Grotto are a summerhouse and associated grotto dating to approximately 1810, built for the 6th Duke of Bedford and likely designed by Humphry Repton. They form part of the garden architecture of Endsleigh House. The summerhouse is constructed of stone rubble, incorporating quartz and shells within the mortar, and is topped with a pyramidal slate roof with lead joints and seven gablets. The grotto is also of stone rubble.

The summerhouse is round on plan and situated on a dramatic site overlooking the Tamar valley. A substantial stone wall to the north is pierced by a segmental archway leading to a short tunnel, which connects to a further tunnel forming a grotto, and then to an open pathway around the side of the summerhouse. A small cobbled area in front of the summerhouse provides views of the valley below.

The summerhouse is single-storey and approximately circular, with a buttress to the left of the doorway. The doorway has a segmental pointed head and a half-glazed door with two upper lights of stained glass above a rustic stick construction for the lower half. Seven triangular lunette windows, each with spiderweb leaded glass, are set within the gablets. Two segmental pointed, two-light windows on the south side, also with stained glass in ornamental leaded panes, offer views of the valley.

Inside, the summerhouse features a groin vault roof decorated with shells and fossils. It is internally hexagonal, with bays devoted to windows, the door, and recesses containing stone benches. The walls are entirely lined with fossils and shells arranged in patterned designs, with some 20th-century replacements. The floor is laid with small cobbles and tiles forming a hexagonal star pattern, centred around a small pool. The Shell House and Grotto are considered to be of unique historical and artistic significance.