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Shell grotto
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A shell grotto is a type of folly, a grotto decorated with sea shells. The shell grotto was a popular feature of many British country houses in the 17th and 18th centuries. It suited the Baroque and Rococo styles (which used swirling motifs similar to sea shells)[1] and often represented the mimicry of architectural features from the Italian Renaissance (themselves copies from Classical times). The idea of a grotto was originally a means to enhance a dank undercroft, or provide an antechamber before a piano nobile, but later it became a garden feature independent of the house, sometimes on the edge of a lake, with water flowing through it.
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![Thumb image](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/76/Shell_Grotto%2C_Margate%2C_Kent_14_-_2011.09.17.jpg/640px-Shell_Grotto%2C_Margate%2C_Kent_14_-_2011.09.17.jpg)