Royal visit as restoration work begins on Wanstead Park’s historic Grotto

HRH The Duke of Gloucester visited Wanstead Park in April to celebrate the completion of the first stage of restoration works to the park’s historic Grotto.

Constructed between 1760 and 1764, a fire in 1884 left the Grotto a ruin, and the building has been on the Heritage at Risk Register since November 2017. The landing stage further deteriorated in 2020, putting the entire structure at risk.

The Duke was shown the success of the repair work, with the retaining wall now rebuilt and invasive plant life extracted.