Shell House

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Shell house, or garden folly, in the form of a semi-sunken drum with conical roof clad in shells. Located on an elevated site to the north of Plantation Road, within the mature landscaped grounds of Plantation House, a three-bay two-storey detached building that is not considered to be of special interest. The latter dates from c.1800 and is accessed via a long tree-lined bitmac avenue opening onto Plantation Road to the southwest through rendered swept entrance screen; the Shell House sits due north of the main entrance door. Elsewhere on the site, a range of rubblestone outbuildings enclosing a rear yard are attached to the rear of the house.

Set into a grassed mound on a lawn enclosed by mature hedging and surrounded by well established shrubs and trees. The drum structure is formed in a mix of coursed rubble-stone and machine-made red brick, with a slightly bowed head to the entrance opening lined in slate. Random rubblestone abutments retain low level ground to form a passage to the entrance, with a larger and more roughly hewn stones placed almost centrally above the opening. Smaller shells (oysters, etc) embedded within the conical roof and entrance jambs.

Historical information

Shell houses or grottos became popular in 18th & 19th centuries as a place to withdraw, meditate and relax; they followed an earlier trend throughout Europe for ornamental hermitages within formal gardens. Shells were a common reoccuring decoration. As a microcosm of a cave, it was deemed an appropriate material to provide relief and the tightly clustered patterns applied were seen as a metaphor for the cosmos. A passion for collecting shells grew in the 18th century and used to line grottos, they provided a sense of mystery and wonder. Ox blood and hooves are thought to have been used for glue on the earlier structures.

The shell house at this property is not shown on any OS maps and although the house is early 19th century, there is no evidence to suggest that the shell house originated from that time. Field inspection suggests that it is of early 20th century construction. The current owner confirmed that the shell house has existed for as long as he can remember; he moved there some 80 years ago.

References

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/3/14/1 – First Edition OS Map 1833
2. PRONI OS/6/3/14/2 – Second Edition OS Map 1858
3. PRONI OS/6/3/14/3 – Third Edition OS Map 1902-1903
4. PRONI OS/6/3/14/4 – Fourth Edition OS Map 1919-1920
5. PRONI VAL/2/B/3/25C – Griffiths Valuation 1861
6. PRONI Wills Catalogue (1871; 1903; 1910; 1915)
7. Ulster Town Directory (1861; 1880; 1901; 1907)
8. Ordnance Survey Map – 165-11 (1961)

Secondary Sources

1. Campbell, Gordon - The Hermit in the Garden: from Imperial Rome to Ornamental Gnome, 2013.
2. Howley, James -The follies and garden buildings of Ireland, 1993.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Semi-sunken drum with shell-encrusted conical roof, located within the grounds of Plantation House (HB19.09.013A) and thought to date c.1930. Of some interest as a reminder of 18th century hermitages and 19th century shell houses and grottos found in large estates, this enclosure represents the continuation of the garden folly as a place of refuge and delight. However, it does not display the same intricate pattern-work or tightly clustered shells found in earlier structures. Although somewhat curious for having shells on the exterior, it is not sufficiently ornate or unusual to be considered as special, and therefore does not meet the test for listing.

General comments

This record has been re-numbered and was previously HB19/09/13