The Grotto At Jordans Ngr St 3388 1601

The Grotto at Jordans is a grotto and summerhouse, dated 1828, built of stone rubble with freestone dressings and a thatched roof, gabled at the front and half-hipped at the rear. It was constructed in the landscaped gardens of the now-demolished Jordans house, situated on a promontory within the lake. The building was commissioned by the Speke family; John Speke, the Victorian explorer who discovered the source of the Nile, was among them.

The structure is rectangular in plan, containing three circular cells. The larger, central room features a doorway to the front and projects at the back in a bow. The smaller flanking cells are aviaries, each with a central fountain and nesting boxes built into the walls. The design is in a Picturesque Gothic Revival style.

The west front is symmetrical, with a gabled shape. It has pointed arch windows with stained glass leaded panes, cage grilles, internal shutters and cills with slots for feeding trays, to the left and right. A central pointed arch doorway is sheltered by a later 19th-century Gothic stone porch with polygonal piers, a pointed arch canopy, and three diamond-shaped windows above, also with stained glass. The north and south sides also feature similar pointed arch windows. The east rear is bowed at the centre and has small, pointed arch, shuttered openings under the eaves to the left and right. The structure is topped by a copper lantern with stained glass, a conical dome, and a weather-vane in the shape of a flying-fish.

Inside, the three circular cells have domed ceilings. The central room’s interior is lined with minerals, fossils, corals and sea-shells, with two engraved mirrors, a cornice made of fan- and tree-corals, and a floor composed of sheep's knuckle-bones set on end with the date 1828. A stone table and a bench with a woven seat are also present. The pointed arch doorways into the aviaries on either side are lined with patterns of sea-shells, and incorporate nesting holes for canaries. The window reveals have integral shutters, cills with feeding trays, and a small pool with a fountain at the centre, operated by a pump outside. The domed ceiling of the central room has been restored around the drum of the lantern.

The Grotto is considered a remarkably fine example of a country house garden grotto/summerhouse.