December 2023

30
Wanstead Village Directory
GROTTO PROJECT
In the first of a series of articles monitoring the restoration and
maintenance of Wanstead Park’s historic Grotto, Richard Arnopp from
The Friends of Wanstead Parklands explains the background
Three years ago, the City of London
adopted a Conservation Management
Plan for the boathouse grotto in
Wanstead Park, which has been in ruins
since a fire not long after the park opened
to the public in the late 1800s.
Since 2022, the Heritage of London Trust has
carried out remedial work on the landing
stage of the building, and the site received
a visit from HRH The Duke of Gloucester.
More recently, a working party has started to
formulate a vision for the structure’s future.
Its task is to identify a sustainable future for
the structure and to see its removal from
the Heritage at Risk Register, to which it was
added in 2017 (the park as a whole has been
on the Register since 2009).
The Grotto was begun around 1760 for John,
second Earl Tylney of Castlemaine, on a site
on the west side of the Ornamental Water.
It seems to have been complete and in use
when it was visited by the French astronomer
Jérôme Lalande in May 1763. It isn’t known
who designed the building, though from
surviving correspondence, we know the noted
Cornish antiquarian and naturalist Dr William
Borlase supplied geological specimens to
be incorporated into it. Unusually large
and elaborate, the Grotto was on two
levels, with a boathouse below and a room
for entertainment above, with a service
area to the side. This may date from when
modifications were made in 1781.
The Grotto survived the wreck of the estate
and became a popular attraction when
the park was opened to the public, with an
admission price of sixpence. Sadly, it was
burned out during maintenance work in
1884, leaving only the exterior walls. Since
then, weathering and vandalism have led to
further loss of fabric: little is now left on the
landward side, and the spectacular waterside
façade survives only as a denuded shadow of
its former self. About half of the original fabric
of the façade is estimated to survive, with
two large areas of complete loss and some
unsatisfactory past attempts at restoration.
The first meeting of the Grotto Project Board
has now taken place and there have been
some positive developments. A contractor has
been appointed to draw up a restoration and
maintenance plan, subject to confirmation of
funding, and investigations of the structure
have indicated no insuperable problems.
The Friends of Wanstead Parklands took
an active part in the development of the
Conservation Management Plan for the
Grotto and a committee member sits on the
Project Board.
Next month, I will discuss some of the work
that has been done to make sense of the
history of this neglected building.
For more information on Wanstead Park,
visit wnstd.com/fwp
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