Shell Grotto at the Dell to North of Goodwood House is a Grade II listed building in the South Downs National Park local planning authority area, England. First listed on 9 October 2000. Garden feature.

Shell Grotto at the Dell to North of Goodwood House

WRENN ID
tenth-footing-kestrel
Grade
II
Local Planning Authority
South Downs National Park
Constituency
Chichester MP: Jess Brown-Fuller (LD)
Country
England
Date first listed
9 October 2000
Type
Garden feature
Address
Shell Grotto at the Dell to North of Goodwood House, Westhampnett, Chichester
OS grid reference
SU 886 090
Coordinates
50.87459, -0.74075
Source
Historic England listing

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

Description

The Shell Grotto at the Dell, located to the north of Goodwood House, is a garden feature built around 1730 for the second Duke of Richmond. It is constructed of brick set into an earth bank, with shell and pebble cladding and lining that is now largely decayed. The grotto features a vaulted chamber and a wide round-arched entrance with a raised keystone. Inside, there are blocked circular roof lights and a later opening in the rear wall, with patterned panels still discernible. This grotto is one of several structures that were built around a man-made amphitheatre, all created around the same time for the second Duke of Richmond as part of his famous menagerie.

Local climate

Shell Grotto at the Dell to North of Goodwood House receives an average of 830 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 53% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 85% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 15 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 85% of listed buildings. Of these, 7 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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