Hidden Britain AtlasOpen the map
All places › Caves & grottoes
Cave or grotto

The Grotto at Stourhead

Stourton, Wiltshire

A sleeping nymph and a river god in a cave by the lake.

Henry Hoare II built a grotto on the edge of the lake at Stourhead in 1748. Inside, a statue of a sleeping nymph lies beside a spring, and a river god guards the source of the River Stour.

Read the full story, see it on the map, get directions and find what else is nearby in the free Hidden Britain Atlas map.

Open The Grotto at Stourhead on the mapReport a sighting here
When
1748
Where
51.1040, -2.3220
Group
Caves & grottoes

Visiting

National Trust. The grotto is on the lakeside walk.

Cover of The Ledger of Lost Britain by Cale Mills
Read the full story in the book

The Ledger of Lost Britain

The Romans arrived in AD 43. For most people that is where the history of Britain begins. But by the time the legions landed, people had already been living on these islands for thousands of years. They had hunted, farmed, mined flint, dragged stones across the country, raised a hill by hand, and buried their dead in great tombs. They left no written words. What they left was the ground itself. Every place in this book can be visited, or has been dug up, or is in a museum.

Buy on AmazonAll books by Cale Mills

Nearby mysteries