Location by UK Streetmap
Harriet Crawford (1979): Subterranean Britain, Aspects of Underground Archaeology. John Baker, London, 201 pp numerous illus. pp 182-183
| Location: |
Ware, Hertfordshire.
Between number 28 and number 34 Scotts Road, Ware.
Scott's Road is next to the college on the A119 to Hertford.
Location by UK Streetmap
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| Open: | APR to SEP Sat, Bank Hol 14-16:30. [2005] |
| Fee: | Free - but a donation of £1 is suggested. |
| Classification: | |
| Light: | none, bring torch. |
| Dimension: | |
| Guided tours: | |
| Bibliography: |
David Perman (1984):
Scott's Grotto,
A Ware Society Guide, 12pp, survey and illus. Harriet Crawford (1979): Subterranean Britain, Aspects of Underground Archaeology. John Baker, London, 201 pp numerous illus. pp 182-183 |
| Address: | Scott's Grotto, 28-34 Scotts Road, Ware, Hertfordshire, SG12 9JQ. |
| Last update: | $Date: 2008/10/09 18:30:50 $ |
| 1768 | John Scott inherited Amwell House and builT the grotto. It is thought to have cost £10,000 and taken 30 years to complete. | |
| 1773 | visited by Samuel Johnson. | |
| 1783 | John Scott's daughter, Maria, inherited her father's estate. | |
| 1863 | Maria dies and the property was sold and Scotts Road was built. | |
| 1960 | The grotto was then part of the garden for a large house on Scotts Road but this was demolished in the mid 1960s and the present modern houses were built. | |
| 1974 | East Hertfordshire District Council acquired the land and carried out basic repairs on the grotto. | |
| 1983 | The Ware Society, a local voluntary group opens the grotto to the public. | |
| 1991 | The restored grotto was reopened April 1991 by Lord Montagu of Beaulieu. |
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Scott's Grotto is a series of interconnected chambers, extending some 20m into the chalk hillside. The chambers and tunnels are lined with shells, flints and pieces of coloured glass, some donated by friends. On top of the hill above the tunnels there is a summer house which would have commanded a wonderful view over the town of Ware. The main chamber is called the Council Chamber and this is highly decorated and has seats inset into it's wall. One of these seats even has the word FROG written in shells, referring to his wife, Sarah Frogley Text by Tony Oldham (2004). With kind permission. |
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