Reasons for Designation
The Grotto at High Elms Country Park is designated for the following principal reasons:
* The Selection Guide states that most grottoes are listable and this is a late example, little altered, of this nationally rare building type.
* Although a fairly plain example, more resembling a large garden alcove, it was constructed after c.1890 for John Lubbock, created Lord Avebury in 1900, who was a figure of national importance in social reform and heritage history.
* It is one of the few structures at Lord Avebury's home, High Elms, directly associated with him, following the loss of the main house to fire in 1967.
* It is one of a number of structures within High Elms Country Park, erected either by Lord Avebury or his father, Sir John William Lubbock, some of which are designated at Grade II.
Details
785/0/10157 SHIRE LANE
13-OCT-09 Grotto at High Elms Country Park
II
Grotto or garden shelter. constructed after 1885 and before 1896 for John Lubbock, later Lord Avebury (1834-1913).
DESCRIPTION: The Grotto is situated at the north west end of a rectangular set of stone garden walls and appears to have been added to it. It faces south west and comprises a large alcove with round-headed roof about nine feet high and twelve feet wide with tapering side retaining walls about nine to twelve feet in length entirely covered in rough flints. The structure was designed to contain a garden seat and was used by Lord Avebury for whom it was built.
HISTORY: The High Elms estate belonged to the Lubbock Family from 1809 to 1938. The Third Baronet, John William Lubbock (1803-1865) rebuilt the main house. In 1865 his son John Lubbock (1834-1913), created Lord Avebury in 1900, took over the family bank and High Elms estate. Lubbock had an interest in natural history, which had started with his introduction into Darwin's inner circle and was a member of the Royal Institution, the Geological Society and the Royal Society. He was Liberal MP for Maidstone between 1870 and 1880 and between 1880 and 1900 represented London University. He championed early closing bills in the 1870s, drafted the Bank Holiday Bill of 1871, the first secular holiday in British history, which was popularly known as "St. Lubbock's Day", and pushed through a bill to preserve Ancient Monuments in 1882, a landmark in historic buildings legislation. He was also an advocate of voting reform and was one of the founders of the Proportional Representation Society in 1884. When he was translated to the peerage in 1900 he chose the title Avebury after the ancient druidical site which he had fought long to save from being destroyed. During his tenure the gardens were extended with two lawns terraced into the hillside to the south west of the mansion, a yew walk constructed to the south west and a grotto built facing south west. The grotto does not appear on the 1885 25 inch Ordnance Survey sheet but is shown on the 1896 sheet.
SOURCES:
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography entry on John Lubbock.
Ken Wilson "A place in the Country...High Elms, Downe, Kent."
REASONS FOR Designation: Grotto at High Elms Country Park is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* It is a very late example, substantially intact, of a grotto which is a rare building type
* Although more resembling a garden shelter than a grotto it was built for and used by John Lubbock, Lord Avebury, a figure of national importance in social reform and heritage history
* It is one of the few structures at his home, High Elms, directly associated with him, following the loss of the main house from fire in 1967
* It is one of a number of structures within High Elms Country Park, erected either by Lord Avebury or his father Sir John William Lubbock, some of which are designated at Grade II
* Its materials and form, with its allusions to prehistoric tombs and barrows, are interesting allusions to Lubbock's importance as an archaeologist, whose campaigning for state involvement in this area led to the passing of the first-ever Act protecting Ancient Monuments in 1882.
