19/02/2022
Follie/Grottos of Hazelwood
Growing up, we would walk around Hazelwood, and one of the sites I would wonder about was the Cave or the witches cave as we called it, as a child you would wonder who the witch was or who lived there or was there actually anyone living there. But it was one of a few such sites in Hazelwood that intrigued me, another such cave like structure is on the grounds too, so what were they?
These structures were called Follies or grottos, the aristocracy or wealthy at the time built them on their grounds, inspired by their travels. They came in all shapes and sizes, from obelisks to large arches. One of them in Hazelwood was called the Shell house, the walls were once adorned with all sorts of locals shells, spars, crystals, fossils and metals. A library was once set up in the shell house to the public, however this privilege was ungratefully absued, shells were stolen and books were either taken or ruined. The Wynne's decided to remove the library, and allow people to walk the grounds under a degree of caution. Taken from 'The Irish Aesthetic' :
"Inspired by examples from ancient Greece and Rome, the origin of the modern era Shell House can be found in the grottoes that were a feature of 16th century Mannerist gardens in Italy. The Buontalenti Grotto in Florence’s Boboli Gardens for example which dates from 1583-93 has walls covered with stalactites and stalagmites, sponges, stones, and shells; in fact these are not real but were carved by the sculptor Pietro Mati. The fashion for such follies soon spread and in 1624 James I had a ‘shell grotto’ created in the undercroft of the Banqueting Hall in Whitehall. It has long since disappeared and today the oldest extant shell grotto in England is at Woburn Abbey, Bedfordshire which dates from the late 1620s onwards. By the start of the 18th century, the Shell House obsession was widespread and unlike the artifice of the Boboli Gardens, these used real shells. In 1725 poet Alexander Pope built a grotto in the tunnel linking his house and garden at Twickenham. Decorated with shells, glass and mirror shards when completed the grotto was so lovely that the poet sighed, ‘Were it to have nymphs as well it would be complete in everything.’ No wonder therefore that around this time the creation of Shell Houses also began to be popular in Ireland."
The other grotto is called the Rock house, which was constructed to appear like a natural cave, made up different types of rocks, and the pavement decorated in horses teeth and other materials to resemble mosaic work.
The Wynnes used all of Hazelwood for recreational purposes, they too would have used the grounds for walking, and as well as gardens they built these decorative shelters along the route. There was the Shell house, Moss House and Rock house in Hazelwood, little remains of the Moss house.
Some Irish follies were built as famine relief projects to provide employment.
Next time you happen across these follies/grottos, imagine what they must have looked like back then.
Photos by James Caheny
