Shell Grotto
The Shell Grotto, sometimes called the Shell Temple, is an ornate underground shell grotto in the seaside town of Margate, Kent, England. The grotto, which has a passageway and main room, was dug out from chalk, a soft limestone common in the region.Photo: Gernot Keller, CC BY-SA 2.5.
- Opening hours: Wednesday—Sunday 10:00 AM—5:00 PM
- Type: Tourist attraction
- Description: an ornate subterranean passageway in Margate, Kent, UK. Grade I listed building
- Also known as: “Shell Grotto, Margate” and “The Grotto”
- Address: Grotto Hill, Margate, CT9 2BU
- Wheelchair access: no
Places of Interest Nearby
Highlights include Margate Caves and Tudor House.
Margate Caves
Photo: Clint Mann, CC BY-SA 2.0.
The Margate Caves are a tourist attraction in Margate. The caves were originally dug as a chalk mine in the area between Margate and Cliftonville. The caves were opened as Victorian seaside attraction in 1863 under the fictional name The Vortigern Caves. Margate Caves is situated 1,100 feet northwest of Shell Grotto.
Tudor House
Museum
Photo: Geni, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Tudor House is a museum, which is situated 1,400 feet northwest of Shell Grotto.
St Stephen’s Methodist Church
Church
Photo: No Swan So Fine, CC BY-SA 4.0.
St Stephen’s Methodist Church is situated 890 feet northeast of Shell Grotto.
Places in the Area
Nearby places include Margate and Cliftonville.
Margate
Photo: AlasdairW, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Margate is a seaside resort on the north Kent coast, with a population in 2021 of more than 64,000. It's suffered the usual decline of English seaside towns but its beach is still thronged on warm summer weekends, and there are several places of interest for cold wet days.
Cliftonville
Suburb
Photo: Nigel Cox, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Cliftonville is a coastal area of Margate in the Thanet district of Kent, England. It includes the Palm Bay estate, built in the 1930s with wide avenues and detached and semi-detached houses with driveways, garages and gardens.
Palm Bay
Quarter
Photo: Nigel Cox, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Palm Bay is an area of Cliftonville, a suburb of Margate in Kent, England. The area is predominantly housing, but also has recreational land for the general public.
Shell Grotto
- Categories: shell grotto, building, and tourism
- Location: Thanet District, Kent, South East England, England, United Kingdom, Britain and Ireland, Europe
- View on OpenStreetMap
Latitude
51.38775° or 51° 23′ 16″ northLongitude
1.38943° or 1° 23′ 22″ eastLevels
1Open location code
9F3399QQ+3QOpenStreetMap ID
way 589057373OpenStreetMap feature
building=yesOpenStreetMap feature
tourism=attractionOpenStreetMap attribute
wheelchair=noWikidata ID
Q7493665
This page is based on OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons, and Wikipedia.
We’d love your help improving our open data sources. Thank you for contributing.
Satellite Map
Discover Shell Grotto from above in high-definition satellite imagery.
In Other Languages
From Armenian to Italian—“Shell Grotto” goes by many names.
- Armenian: “Խեցիների քարանձավ”
- Basque: “Shell Grotto (Margate)”
- Basque: “Shell Grotto”
- Esperanto: “Konkogroto de Margate”
- French: “Shell Grotto”
- Hungarian: “Shell Grotto”
- Italian: “Shell Grotto”
Places with the Same Name
Discover other places named “Shell Grotto”.
Notable Places Nearby
Highlights include Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses and TOPS Vocational College.
Nearby Places
Explore places such as The Mulberry Tree and Carn Brea Cottages.
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