Grotto in Arboretum is a Grade II listed building in the Peak District National Park local planning authority area, England. First listed on 19 June 1987. Grotto, summer house.

Grotto in Arboretum

WRENN ID
stranded-column-wren
Grade
II
Local Planning Authority
Peak District National Park
Constituency
Derbyshire Dales MP: John Whitby (Lab)
Country
England
Date first listed
19 June 1987
Type
Grotto, summer house
Address
Grotto in Arboretum, Chatsworth, Derbyshire Dales
OS grid reference
SK 264 695
Coordinates
53.22237, -1.60598
Source
Historic England listing

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

Description

The Grotto in the Arboretum is a Grade II listed structure located in Chatsworth Gardens, built in 1798 by White Watson. It was remodelled in 1820 at a cost of £428. The grotto is constructed from massive sandstone boulders, integrated into the hillside, featuring a curving front and a roughly round-arched entrance. Behind the entrance is a rectangular room with coursed squared sandstone walls and a pitched slate roof. There is also a circular rotunda with pitted finish walls. Above the grotto, a rustic timber summer house is supported by eight tree trunks and topped with a conical slate roof. The summer house features a latticework balustrade made from roughly prepared branches. The Gardens and Park surrounding the grotto are listed on the Gardens Register at Grade I.

Local climate

Grotto in Arboretum receives an average of 930 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 70% 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 44 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 85% of listed buildings. Of these, 25 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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