Shell grotto
…Oatlands Park cost £25,000 in 1781 and took 11 years to build; and at Fisherwick Park the Marquess of Donegall spent £10,000 on shells alone in 1789. The Grotto at Margate has 2,000 square feet or 190 square metres of mosaic, using some 4.6 million shells. By the end of the 18th century, fashion had moved on…