Woburn Abbey

The Grotto and The Parlour

This room, or folly, was probably built between 1619 and 1641. Over the two doors are the coats of arms of the 4th Earl quartered with his Countess, Katherine Bridges and the arms of the Dukes of Bedford. It was designed as an open loggia where the family could sit and breathe in the good clean air of Bedfordshire. It is built in the Italian tradition facing north away from the rays and heat of the sun which were believed to encourage disease. A fountain played in the central niche where Bacchus stands today. We are not sure who the designer was, but Inigo Jones was commissioned about the same time as the Grotto was built to design the first London square, Covent Garden Piazza, for the 4th Earl, part of the Family Heritage. Isaac de Caux, a protege of Inigo Jones, had also built a similar room under the Banqueting Hall in Whitehall, which unfortunately has not survived. The stonework is carved to resemble seaweed and stalactites inlaid with ormer shells from the Chalnnel Islands and mussel shells. The furniture is eighteenth century and is carved to resemble sea shells with dolphins supporting the seats and table-tops; ome of it is silvered to resemble mother of pearl. The chairs are fairly delicate in construction as they were not intended to encourage people to dally. They were merely resting places for a few moments in the heat of the day. Carved into the wall of one of the window arches we have recently discovered some writing, only partly decipherable, dated 1654.

The room was considered too cold towards the end of the eighteenth century and wire grilled glass doors were fitted. Lady Tavistock has recently replaced those doors with plate-glass windows to regain the open loggia effect and she is planning a small seventeenth-century formal garden on the other side. Grottoes similar in style to this one were fashionable again in the nineteenth century. In fact we have a 'ruined' grotto or folly built for the 6th Duke, situated near the Chinese Dairy; this is one of the Abbey's most interesting Exterior features. The reason for this grotto's excellent condition is possibly because it is now enclosed and an integral part of the house.

The ground outside is known as the Monk's Burial Ground. In the early 1970s some bones found here were examined at the Institute of Archaeology and were said to have belonged to a strongly built, probably male person of average height, dating from the Middle Ages. These bones were reburied as close as possible to the place where they were found.

The Parlour

As you leave the vaults, in a case on your left are displayed sixty terracotta Spanish figures illustrating the costumes and sports of Spain. At the top of the stairs is the largest painting at Woburn, Cherubs Scattering Flowers by Bartolome Murillo (1618-1682). The rest of the paintings have a religious theme and include Salvi's Last Supper. The beautifully moulded ceiling dates from 1660.