Wanstead Park Grotto leaves Heritage at Risk Register after £1m stabilisation

Historic England has removed the Grotto in Wanstead Park from its Heritage at Risk Register after a nine-year, £1m conservation project led by the City of London Corporation, the Corporation announced on 5 November.

The Corporation said the work, carried out with its Epping Forest charity, Historic England and Heritage of London Trust, stabilised the ruined structure, preserved its historic fabric and secured its future.

Cliveden Conservation, commissioned by the Corporation, installed a galvanised steel frame fixed to new concrete foundation trenches to stabilise the principal facade. The programme also included brickwork repairs, removal of vegetation and new structural supports to halt the structure's decline, the Corporation said.

David Bloxam, head of architectural projects at Cliveden Conservation, said: "An important part of the conservation project was creating discrete novel connections through the structure to the supporting steel frame."

He said the team had matched handmade bricks and stone and re-used original materials found on site, so that the repairs were almost invisible and the historic fabric remained the focus.

The project

The Corporation said it led and primarily funded the project, with about £1m secured for the conservation of the Grotto, which it describes as an Epping Forest charity asset.

Work on the Conservation Management Plan and the Restoration and Maintenance Plan began in 2019, involving the Corporation's heritage and natural environment teams, sector bodies, local stakeholders and appointed consultants.

According to the Corporation's Wanstead Park management page, the stabilisation work finished in March 2026. The same page, last updated on 29 June 2026, said Historic England would assess the site during spring and summer 2026 before any decision on removing it from the register.

Heritage of London Trust separately supported an earlier phase of work. The trust said it commissioned an urgent condition survey of the landing stage and raised £24,000, with its grant supported by The Jones Day Foundation. Phase one, the landing stage, was completed in 2022, the trust said, working with the City of London and Friends of Wanstead Parklands.

The trust's patron, HRH The Duke of Gloucester, who is also Ranger of Epping Forest, visited the Grotto to see the works in progress, the trust said.

Christopher Laine, landscape architect at Historic England, said: "It is testament to years of dedication by the City of London Corporation and its partners that a once-vulnerable ruin is now stable and well-maintained."

The building

The Corporation's announcement describes the Grotto as Grade II listed and says it was built in 1761. Heritage of London Trust puts construction between 1760 and 1764 at a cost of £2,000. The Corporation's own park management page refers to the structure as Grade II* listed; Wanstead Park itself is a Grade II* Registered Park and Garden.

The Grotto stands beside the Ornamental Water and was designed as a boathouse and place for entertainment, with interiors originally decorated with shells, crystals, mirrors and stones, the Corporation said. Much of the structure was destroyed by fire in 1884. Heritage of London Trust said only the outer walls were left standing, and that the site was on the Heritage at Risk Register by 2020.

The Corporation has managed Wanstead Park as Conservators and Trustee of the Epping Forest charity since 1880. The park covers more than 300 acres, receives hundreds of thousands of visits a year and is also a Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation and an Archaeological Priority Area, forming most of the Wanstead Park Conservation Area. Its remnants of the former Wanstead House estate include the nearby Temple.

Caroline Haines, chair of the Corporation's Epping Forest & Commons Committee, said the future of a piece of local history "that very nearly disappeared altogether" had been saved through years of conservation work, investment and partnership.

What happens next

The Corporation said a public consultation on potential work to the Grotto and other historic features in the park is expected to begin next year.

Its management page says the next stage is to apply for funding and explore options for the site's future, and that securing funding for a project of this size may take a couple of years. In the meantime, fencing will remain in place and access to the Grotto will be restricted.

Work to secure funding for wider improvements across Wanstead Park is already under way, the Corporation said. It is the sole trustee and largest funder of eight open space charities covering more than 11,000 acres.