Margate's Shell Grotto - No One Knows Who Built it, When, or Why (Full Guided Tour)

A subterranean meeting place for sea witches, a rich man's folly for secret meetings, or maybe an ancient Freemasons temple, perhaps even Roman in origin. Today we're visiting Margate's mysterious shell grotto. Nobody knows why it's here, who built it, or when they did. I'm Jessica the museum guide and today we're exploring one of my favorite places in the southeast, Margate's mysterious shell grotto. Nobody knows why it's here, when it was built, or who built it. The shell grotto is located in Margate on the very southeastern tip of Kent, about 90 minutes from London. Discovered beneath a garden in 1835, these chalk caves are lined with approximately 4.6 million shells spread across 2,000 square feet. If you're new to my channel, welcome! If you're interested in accessing even more videos, as well as my regular videos, ad-free and early, then head on over to my Patreon channel. Not only will you get to watch one extra video tour each month, but you'll get access to my entire back catalogue of Patreon-only videos. So let's talk about the history of the shell grotto, which is actually really hard to do because nobody knows when it was built, why it was built, or who built it. We do, however, know the year it was found. Everyone seems to be able to agree that it was 1835. According to an 1838 newspaper article, James Newlove, doing some work at this cottage called Bellevue, hired some workmen, quote, which led to the discovery of an extensive grotto, completely surrounded with shells and curious devices, extending an immense distance in serpentine walks, alcoves, and lanes, the whole forming one of the most curious and interesting sights that could possibly be conceived, and must have been executed by torchlight. By the way, there's a competing theory that Newlove was digging a duck pond above, and that he broke through the ground and then lowered his son into the cave. I love that. And some also say that the local children had long known about the existence of these caves, and used to play down here before they were officially discovered by adults. Over the next century, the grotto became a popular tourist attraction, but this led to some problems. Gas lighting was used for nearly a hundred years to light these passageways. The soot and the smoke from the gas lamps blackened the once bright and beautiful shells. Here you can see the original colors of the shells. We'll come back to this a bit later on. Here in this lighting, you can really see the damage that the oil lamps throughout the last centuries have done. It's kind of ironic, and a little bit darkly poetic, that our desire to see things like this has actually often led to their destruction. This has also rendered radiocarbon dating almost entirely useless in dating the age of the caves, hence the mysteries. The space has also suffered from water ingress, but thankfully, back in 2012, the shell grotto was removed from the Heritage at Risk Register after a five-year conservation program carried out in partnership with English Heritage, and this has helped undo some of the damage. Okay, we've already been walking around, but let's go back to the entrance and explore the grotto's layout together. We're going to start outside. It's pretty unassuming at street level, because this structure has been built in front of the Bellevue Cottage to allow a visitor's entrance to the grotto. So we start our visit by heading down into the Chalk Passage, around a meter, that is 3.5 feet wide, and we're winding down in this kind of twisty way. Archway is just above my head. Oh, maybe a good foot or so. I think even if you were six feet tall, you wouldn't have a problem walking here. So this is just craggy rock, you can see. However, once we reach this arch, which is a pointed Gothic arch, and that becomes important later, absolutely everything is covered in shells. Okay, now we're in the rotunda. This is a central circular column. There's a shaft here that rises to the surface, and this allows some daylight into the structure, and it leads to the Serpentine Passage. Now we're in this narrow S-shaped passageway, and this is when the chamber really becomes apparent that it's man-made and not just some naturally occurring caves. So this is really our first glimpse that this is millions of shells. The plan of the sub-base of the dome is triangular, with an arch in the center of each side. The two arches in the side are those that lead in from the rotunda, while the arch in the base leads into the Serpentine Passage, with its curving walls and overarching vaults, and this is rich in mosaics. So let's zoom in on the shells themselves. We can see that the most frequently used shells throughout the mosaic designs are mussels, you can see those here, cockles, whelks, limpets, scallops, and oysters, of course, for which Roman Britain was famous. These are all British, and can be found in large quantities in local bays, like Walpole Bay and Pegwell Bay. However, the background between the designs is mostly made of the flat winkle, you can see it here. These are rare locally, but they're likely come from the shores west of Southampton, where they're really common. Now for us today, this is just a three hour drive or so, but hundreds of years ago, this would have actually been quite the mission just to get these shells. So that's confusing, and honestly, I find it quite mysterious. Now the Shell Grotto's many research projects thought that maybe the mortar used to affix the shells to the wall might give us a clue to who created the Shell Grotto in the first place. That could help date the caves, but during their 2009 conditions survey, they sent five mortar samples for analysis, and each one was found to be different. Some were lime mortar, some were fish based, and some were even Roman cement. And that could give credence to an ancient origin. Hmm, I thought that was pretty discounted, but that is interesting. The different materials, by the way, is likely due to successive repairs over the period of time that the grotto has been here. Ah, here we go. We can see here some circular bald patches. These are evidence of small slates. The workers probably mosaicked these at ground level because working conditions were nicer. And then attached them to the chalk walls with plaster of Paris, but that didn't end up being very effective, so they eventually fell off the walls. You can even sponsor a roundel if you want to help repair the Shell Grotto. Now you can look at all of these different patterns and mosaic images that we're seeing, and some people have interpreted these to be quite, quote, Eastern or Orientalist in nature. This has led to speculations that these decorated caves were built by Romans, magicians, mystics, or even Phoenicians, but we'll come back to that. Okay, this passageway is 70 feet long, and it comes to an end here. This is a rectangular room called the altar, and it measures approximately 15 by 20 feet. That's five by six meters. So here the decoration takes on a more formal and geometric character, but still finely drawn and executed. The subjects, as you can see, are mostly stars and other similar shapes like suns. The focal point, of course, is this altar. Most of the designs are pretty abstract, but people say they can see all kinds of things in them, including crocodiles, owls, turtles, some say skeletons. Ah, here we can see the skeleton. Here you can see kind of a pattern, almost looks like a vine or a plant growing up the wall. Now you can see that the roof of this room is made out of some kind of modern material, and that's because the house above was badly bombed in World War II. Being on the coast near France, Margate was heavily bombed, and you can see this sign here. It says, this wall has been damaged when the cottage above took a direct bomb during World War II. Artist Paul Hazleton is in the process of using old photographs to create a mural of how the lost wall once looked. So this, even though it looks like shells, this is actually a mural. I'm not going to touch it, but this is one-dimensional, and you can see he's got the markings on the wall. That's very, it'll be really interesting when it's done. Shells on the left side, and a mural of the shells on the right side. Now let's talk a little bit about Margate itself. It's almost impossible to find an article that doesn't refer to Margate's, quote, faded glory. That's because in the days before cheap package holidays to Spain, and a massive storm in 1953, this was the country's premier seaside resort, rivaling places like Blackpool and Brighton for things to do, entertainment, and attractions, including the country's oldest roller coaster, the Scenic Railway. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Margate was the place to see and be seen. However, throughout the 1970s and 80s, the area began a steep decline. While people made day trips to the coast, most people in search of sun and sand However, this town has always had an artsy vibe. From J.M.W. Turner living here and painting his iconic sunsets, by the way, this one, waves breaking on a lee shore at Margate, is currently at the Turner Gallery, on loan from the Tate Britain for the next year, to poet T.S. Eliot writing on Margate Sands, I can connect nothing with nothing in his poem, The Wastelands. And in the past decade or so, Pete Doherty and the Libertines moved here, and beloved native daughter Tracy Emmond moved back, sinking a ton of money into the local arts scene. As a result, Margate, once more known for mini donuts and crab fishing, is now known for hipster coffee shops, natural wine bars, and more galleries than you can shake a stick at. Condé Nast Traveler just rated this one of the top 50 places to visit this summer, so we can expect even more tourists to come to Margate in droves. And of course, everyone who visits Margate, whether it's a Hindu or a hipster weekend away, just has to visit the Shell Grotto. So ultimately, we have to ask, who made this? Some people attribute supernatural meaning to the Shell Grotto, saying it may have been a medieval meeting place for sea witches. Of course, that's my favorite theory. Other fringe theories include that it was a prehistoric astronomical calendar, or that it was connected with the Knights Templar, or Freemasonry. All of my oddities videos always seem to come back to that. In 2007, archaeologists discovered a domed cave under the Palatine Hill in Rome, with shells, mosaics, and marble in similar patterns to those here in the rectangular chamber, which has led to some theories that the Shell Grotto could have even been created by the Phoenicians in the second half of the first millennium BCE. I mean, at this time, they were expanding rapidly from Carthage and creating many colonies, but the arches are in a gothic style, so this would be about 1,500 years ahead of its time. It's far more likely that whoever created this grotto included a mishmash of their favorite styles. The most likely theory is that this was created in the 1700s by one of the many Eastern-influenced secret societies of English gentlemen, or just by one gentleman himself, who wanted to show off his wealth with a neat little folly of his own. Remember, Margate was home to the cream of the crop, especially as a summer holiday destination. That said, there are some archaeological reports remarking on the similarities with the construction of early tin mines in this region, so we really are back to square one. The truth is, we simply don't know who created this wonder, but I like to think of it as one man, or woman's, lifetime project. Someone like Nek Chand in Chandigarh, India, or the Mole Man of Hackney. He was William Little, who used a homemade shovel and pulley system to scoop up 100 cubic meters of earth from beneath the roads and houses over the course of 50 years, causing serious structural concerns in Hackney. In my Top 12 Strangest Museums in London video, you can also see the House of Dreams, a lifetime project by Stephen Wright. These are people who create secret magical worlds from unusual materials. That said, this is far from the only shell grotto in the world. In fact, in terms of follies, shell caves are actually rather common. They were a popular feature of many British country houses in the 17th and 18th centuries, and around 200 have survived in Britain alone. Here is the most extensive. It's Scott's Grotto in Ware, Hertfordshire. This is six rooms, and it's the largest. The oldest here in the UK is the Shell Room at Wolburn Abbey, which dates to 1620, and it wasn't just in Great Britain. Here's one dating to around 1700 in Nieuw Noord in the Netherlands. Sadly, by the end of the 18th century, fashions had changed, and follies were no longer in style. But while we don't know who constructed Margate's beloved grotto, or why they did it, today it is a beloved local landmark, and it's certainly an oddity befitting my channel. So upstairs, there is a little museum section with display cases full of things found in the grotto, or having to do with the grotto over the years. You can see here a map calling it the Shell Temple of Margate. Ooh, this case here is all about spooky and paranormal connections with the Shell Grotto. Now, those of you here on my channel know that I don't really believe in the supernatural. I wish I did, but I don't. But if you do, there's lots of information here about seances and hauntings, including a ghost that wanders the grotto in a blue dress. There she is, the Blue Lady, answering to either the Lady of the Temple or the Blue Lady. She's a glamorous ghost who walks the Serpentine Passage. I love this picture in the back. You can actually buy postcards of this. This star panel was created by Eileen Heigl, a past owner of the grotto, to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the grotto opening to the public. It shows the shells' natural colors and how they would have looked when the Shell Grotto was originally built. You can see it's very beautiful pastel colors, a lot different than the washed out and gray, murky shells caused by the oil lamps. I love these different gifts and objects, even floral arrangements made in the 18th and 19th centuries out of shells. And a papier-mâché shell doll from the 1860s. Wow, look at this carved pearl oyster treated with acid and carved in Jerusalem. And a christening cup made from a turbo marmoratus. I love this. It's an old advertisement. This is actually just from the 1980s, but I love it. Here's the east wall of the altar room. This is pre-1940, so they can see what it looked like before it was bombed. I love this old stereoscope, so you can see the 3D images of the Shell Grotto. These were all the rage in Victorian times, but this one's from the 1960s. And of course, the famous shell lady. In a country full of strange and unusual things, I recommend you take a visit to this strange and unusual place. I'll see you the next time I'm in the Grotto.