In the surroundings of the English town of Margate in the county of Kent, you find a mysterious cave decorated with more than 4 million seashellss. His name is The Shell Grotto And it is a tourist attraction shrouded in enigmas: nobody knows who built it, or when, or for what purpose.
The Shell Grotto was discovered in 1835 by James newlove, a villager who dug on his land to build a duck pond. Newlove immediately saw the commercial potential of his find, so he installed gas lamps to illuminate the hallway and three years later the grotto was opened to the public. As soon as the first visitors paid their admission to see that strange underground tunnel covered with shells, the debate about its origins began.
This is, briefly summarized, what is known about this place: inside there are approximately 4,6 million shells of different species of mollusks (especially cockles, snails, mussels and oysters), all of them glued to the walls and ceiling. They were stuck with a kind of mortar made from fish remains.
There are different theories to explain its the origin. Some historians date its antiquity to several millennia, others associate its drawings and mosaics with ornamental motifs similar to those of the Phoenicians, while others suggest that it is the secret refuge of some pagan sect during medieval times. For now the riddle remains unsolved.
These shell mosaics cover the 2.000 square meter surface area of the grotto and it is fast becoming one of the most important tourist attractions in Kent.
More information - Pluckley, England: a ghost town
Images: shellgrotto.co.uk