Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Grade II listed building. Main construction periods 1813 to 1853

Summary from record TQ 57 SE 171:

The Flint cave was part of an ornamental post medieval landscape, Ingress Park, at the site of Ingress Abbey. The style and solidity of the build suggest that it is of similar date to the rest of the follies in the park and that it could be the ornamental cave constructed for the Earl of Bessborough around 1760, to house his collection of Roman altars.

Monument Types

• GROTTO (Post Medieval - 1700 AD? to 1900 AD? (at some time))
• SITE (Post Medieval - 1813 AD to 1853 AD)

Associated Finds

• Carved Stone (Post Medieval - 1700 AD? to 1900 AD?)

Full description

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The following text is from the original listed building designation:
TQ 5875 SWANSCOMBE AND GREENHITHE GRENHITHE
989/9/10009 Flint Cave in the grounds
of Ingress Abbey at TQ
5898 5904
II
Garden folly. c1833. Flint with stone dressings. Exterior has cambered stone arch, two end ogee-shaped arches and three central cambered niches. Left side arch leads into a small chamber and right side arch into an even smaller chamber. One of a series of garden buildings in the grounds of Ingress Abbey (qv).
Listing NGR: TQ5897275037

Description from record TQ 57 SE 171:
The Flint cave or 'Grotto' was identified in an initial assessment by AOC [1] and in a landscape survey by the Debois Landscape Survey Group, as one of a series of post medieval features situated within the historic garden and landscaped grounds of Ingress Abbey. It is present on the 1868 Ordnance Survey Map, marked as a cave. The Debois survey suggests that of all the surviving follies at Ingress Abbey, this is the one most suited as the site of the cave built to house the Earl of Bessborough's collection of Roman altars in the 1760's [2].
In the evaluation, a single trench at front of the structure revealed the original floor of the Grotto, buried under deep backfill deposits and that the structure would have had much more of an enclosed entrance. The backfill deposits contained a large number of fragments of still mortared flint from the walls and ceiling and a decorated stone pedastel, which may have been part of the collection of objects displayed within the the Grotto. No other finds or dating evidence were recovered from the evaluation [3].
The interim report details the excavation work that followed, involving the removal of the backfill/overburden from the grotto. This revealed a well built structure, showing few signs of collapse. It confirmed that the backfill was a comparatively modern event, containing mortared flint from the structure (i.e. from the front wall) and a small amount of building material, including two finials and some carved stone from buildings on the site. The only piece of dating evidence found in the backfill was a piece of 19th century clay pipe. The clearance provided information on the building techniques used. The grotto was carved into the solid chalk and then faced with decorative flint work. The 'flint walls' lay in a construction cut, a slot around the edge of the grotto. In plan, the grotto can be split into three areas, a main cave, a southern alcove and a northern cave. The main cave and southern alcove contained recesses and it is suggested that these may have been seats for visitors or for objects from the Earl of Bessborough's collection. The northern cave was never finished and remained unlined. The entrance to the grotto would have been in the centre of the western wall, now demolished, directly opposite the central recess of the main cave [4].
The excavation report revealed that a low wall did survive on the western side, although most of the enclosure wall had been demolished. The flint lining to the grotto had been applied in three course bands, perhaps due to the drying time of the mortar. The floor remained unlined and composed of natural chalk. The mortar used on the walls and roof was a mixture of lime and shell, while a fine white lime mortar was used to point the walls. The five arched recesses in the main cave may have once been surfaced in stone, now lost and each has a keystone in the arch and a curved back. All five plus a possible sixth, share a common plinth that runs around the base of the main cave. The southern alcove contains two further identical recesses and a wide shelf at the back of the alcove, perhaps for an imposing artefact from the Earl of Bessborough's collection. The unlined northern cave is entered via a flint lined passage with the same plinth found through out the grotto. The exposed chalk shows the scars of the pick axes used to dig the cave out. It is not known why it remained unfinished. No artefactual evidence was recovered and the 19th century clay pipe was interpreted as coming from the redeposition of disturbed ground [5].
The Grotto is also referred to in the main excavation report for the work at Ingress Abbey (p.29, 72-74) [6].

<1> AOC Archaeology Group, 1998, Ingress Abbey Greenhithe Kent. An Archaeological Impact Assessment. (Unpublished document). SKE12234.

<2> Debois Landscape Survey Group, 1999, Ingress Abbey, Greenhithe, Kent A record of the landscape. (Unpublished document). SKE12236.

<3> AOC Archaeology Group, 2000, An Archaeological Evaluation at the Grotto, Ingress Abbey, Greenhithe, Kent. (Unpublished document). SKE12237.

<4> AOC Archaeology Group, 2002, Interim Report on the Excavations within the Flint Cave (the Grotto), Ingress Abbey, Greenhithe, Kent (Unpublished document). SKE12229.

<5> AOC Archaeology Group, 2002, A Report on Excavations within the Flint Cave (the Grotto), Ingress Abbey, Greenhithe, Kent. (Unpublished document). SKE12238.

<6> AOC Archaeology Group, 2004, Results Of Archaeological Excavation And Recording At Ingress Abbey, Greenhithe, Kent (Unpublished document). SKE12239.

Sources and further reading

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