Shell Cottage today stands as a focal point in the informal gardens, south of Adlington Hall, this site has a long history and records show that in 1727 six hot beds were built. This is a very early use of glass frames and shows Adlington had a sophisticated garden from at least the early 18th century.

In 1758 a payment was made to Mr Lyon charles Legh’s builder for building the greenhouse and making the shutters. This is the Cottage much as we see it today on the outside. It was designed with the front inspired by classical architecture that served the garden aesthetic, and the back to look like a rustic cottage that backed onto the wilderness.

During the 1820’s it was considered a suitable activity for ladies of the house to occupy themselves in shell decoration.

The tradition of adding to the decoration was continued until the 1920s and revived in the 1960s so there was never an overall plan of decoration. The restoration of Shell Cottage reflects this random approach.

Prior to the restoration by Blott Kerr Wilson, little of the original decoration was left in Shell Cottage.

The original materials had been safely stored for years until the present head gardener Anthony O’Grady painstakingly cleaned and sized the minerals ready for the day that the little shell house would be restored. There were very few of the original shells and pieces of glass/mirror that were worth saving.

I believe that nearly all the original materials used in this shell house would have been found or sourced locally. Indeed, Camilla Legh, the current owner says:

“During the 1970s and 1980s my father Charles Legh collected shells from all over the Caribbean, from Barbados, Antigua, Trinidad, Tobago and many other islands.

My mother Jane Norton has also collected and bought shells whilst visiting many of the Caribbean islands, Granada, Nevis, Antigua, Tobago and Virgin Gorda, and many European Islands.

My shell collection was considerably smaller but Blott has been able to include all our shells in her new design.”

Originally, the majority of the shells were local to the Irish Sea and probably came directly from the kitchen waste or were collected by the Leghs. Some of the more exotic shells were painted with lead verdigris paint. It was decided not to repaint these shells but leave them in their original state.

*Information taken from signboards within Shell Cottage