Exploring Kent's Past

It should not be assumed that this site is publicly accessible and it may be on private property. Do not trespass.

Monument details

Summary

Grade II listed building. Main construction periods 1066 to 1853

Summary from record TQ 57 SE 179:

The Cave of the Seven Heads probably dates from the mid 18th century, built under the direction of Lord Bessborough. Six of the seven sculpted grotesque heads survive. The Cave will be consolidated and restored as part of the Ingress Park development.

Monument Types

• SITE (Medieval to Post Medieval - 1066 AD to 1853 AD)
• GROTTO (Post Medieval to Modern - 1750 AD? to 2004 AD (between))

Full description

If you do not understand anything on this page please contact us.

The following text is from the original listed building designation:
TQ 5875 SWANSCOMBE AND GREENHITHE GREENHITHE
989/9/10003 The Cave of the Seven Heads
in the grounds of Ingress
Abbey at TQ 5898 7508
GV II
Garden folly. c1833 reusing earlier masonry possibly from old London bridge. Cave excavated into the side of an embankment with rough stone exterior wall with arch with four keystones of grotesque heads which possibly came from the medieval London Bridge and semicircular chamber about 12 feet across with two stone pillars. The remaining three heads were either buried beneath the soil level or not in situ at time of survey.
Listing NGR: TQ5898075080

Description from record TQ 57 SE 179:
The Cave of the Seven Heads lies within a landscaped dell that originated as a quarry. An access road established by the 18th century to the lower parts of the site runs above it. The arched entrance contains sculpted grotesque heads and the whole structure is largely built of roughly hewn blocks giving a rustic appearance. In the recent fieldwork report, it is stated that the Cave dates to the mid eighteenth century when it was built for the then owner of the Park, the Earl of Bessborough.

The Listed Building entry for the site however, states that the cave dates to c1833, reusing earlier masonry possibly from London Bridge. The 'heads' are the keystones for the arch, while the interior chamber contains two stone pillars. It should be noted that the current Ingress Abbey building [TQ 57 NE 93], which dates from 1833, is also supposed to have used stone from Old London Bridge [see Listed Building Records Green Back no.TQ 5875 SE 9/10003].

During the recent campaign of fieldwork two evaluation trenches were dug to determine the original floor level of the cave and the existence or absence of all seven heads, only four being extant at the beginning of the work. The cave opening is orientated to the west, and the two trenches were located at the base of each side of the stone arch. The northern trench revealed the top of a 5th head before work was curtailed by living tree. The southern trench was cut through deep slump material from the steep slope on the southern side of the cave. At 2m+ a gravel surface was identified as the surface around the cave when it was built in 1748-1760 (?). A sixth head was recorded on the southern side of the arch and below this a rough cut stone embedded in the gravel formed the base of the arch. The seventh head would have been located on the northern side of the arch, in a location which is now a block of featureless limestone. The report concludes that the cave's rustic appearance and imposing frontage were part of a structure to be looked at, rather than one used as a viewpoint.

No finds were kept from the fieldwork, although post-med building material and clay pipe were noted in the deposits outside the cave. The site of the cave has now been developed and a programme of restoration and consolidation determined [1].

The original impact assessment report adds a little more detail. It refers to the cave as being lined with banded flints and to a series of pointed arches within the flintwork (Note the 18th century Flint cave was also lined with banded flint courses TQ 57 SE 171]. It also states that in addition to the four visible heads known about before the recent fieldwork, a fifth one was visible as the keystone to the interior face of the arch. Could this be the block later recorded as featureless on the exterior of the arch? [2].

The Debois landscape record states that stylistically, they would class the Cave as a 'Cyclopean' folly, which would make a mid 18th century Bessborough period date more likely. It also refers to the suggestion that the cave was an ice house or cold bath, an ice house as it was positioned between half way between the site of the main house and the turnpike road and adjacent to an access road. Large pieces of dressed stone were noted inside the cave and it is suggested that these came from further buildings in the vicinity. It concurs with the above statement on views in being more important than views out, for example the view from the now 'Lost Cave' (west of the Flint Cave and the Cave of the Seven Heads) towards the Cave of the Seven Heads [3].

<1> AOC Archaeology Group, 2004, Results Of Archaeological Excavation And Recording At Ingress Abbey, Greenhithe, Kent (Unpublished document). SKE12239.

<2> AOC Archaeology Group, 1998, Ingress Abbey Greenhithe Kent. An Archaeological Impact Assessment. (Unpublished document). SKE12234.

<3> Debois Landscape Survey Group, 1999, Ingress Abbey, Greenhithe, Kent A record of the landscape. (Unpublished document). SKE12236.

Sources and further reading

Related records