In the second of a series of articles monitoring the restoration and maintenance of Wanstead Park’s historic Grotto, Richard Arnopp explains the work done so far
Last month, I explained that a Project Board has started work on developing plans for the future of the Grotto in Wanstead Park. A contractor has been appointed to draw up a restoration and maintenance plan, subject to confirmation of funding. The object 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). Two main areas of work have been completed to date.
Firstly, the foundations were explored with a series of test pits. These were found to be shallow, but not surprisingly so for a building of 18th-century date, and in good condition. The same is true of the landing stage, currently partly buried under rubble and accumulated soil. The main façade has a slight lean towards the lake, but there is no sign it is currently moving.
Secondly, fallen rockwork from the façade has been retrieved systematically from the lakebed, analysed and stored. As well as a large amount of generic limestone of a kind known to grotto-makers as ‘tufa’, there were many architectural elements in Portland stone. An archaeologist has examined these and believes they came from some high-status 17th-century building. This had presumably been demolished not long before the Grotto was built and its remains acquired as architectural salvage.
In addition, the last couple of years have seen advances in understanding of the sculptural decoration of the Grotto.
Examination of 19th-century photographs show a broken statue – possibly of the goddess Diana. By the early 20th century it had vanished. This is interesting as it had obviously been designed to stand upright. However, it had been snapped off from its base below the knees and was lying on its back in a niche, which had clearly been made for it in that condition. This suggests the deliberate use of broken statuary as a decorative motif was part of the designer’s vision of a ‘romantic ruin’.
This in turn may shed some light on an older discovery. Many years ago, the lower part of a stone statue of Andromeda was found on the lakebed, along with a statue of a slave or captive which is of roughly similar size. Both have long been on display in the Temple. Given where they were found, they may be assumed to have been somehow associated with the Grotto, but there is no photographic evidence of where they were displayed. My tentative suggestion is that they may once have occupied the two large niches flanking the arch to the boat dock – perhaps already in a broken state. The upper torso of the Andromeda statue was discovered recently among the fallen rockwork. Both statues were made of Lutetian limestone, a variety particular to the area of Paris, in France.
The statue room at the Temple contains two other stone sculptures. One is the remains of an eagle, which is known to have stood at the top of the Grotto façade. This was the crest of the Child/Tylney family. There is also a dog, which was from an unknown location (perhaps originally one of the smaller niches).
Finally, the decorative scheme included two pieces of lead statuary seen in situ in early photographs. These are another Andromeda, which still happily survives at The Temple (pictured here), and one which seems to have been an ‘Allegory of Winter’. The latter is now missing.
I have seen images of lead figures from the Van Nost family’s workshop which were almost certainly the prototypes of those at the Grotto – an Andromeda from Melbourne Hall, and Winter formerly from Glenham Hall (this has passed through various hands and is now in the United States). I think little can be said about the Wanstead ‘Winter’, as our images of him are too poor and lacking in detail. However, the Wanstead Andromeda is clearly much smaller than her Melbourne Hall cousin. Also, though she has been rather knocked about over the years, she is also of much poorer quality – a version derived from a print perhaps rather than from the original?
The Friends of Wanstead Parklands are delighted with the work done to date to make sense of the history of this neglected building and the new determination to rescue it from dereliction and abandonment. We will keep you updated on progress as the project develops.
For more information on Wanstead Park, visit wnstd.com/fwp
