Pope's villa

Pope's villa was a three-story Palladian-style house on the Thames riverbank, featuring an elliptical arch and classical architectural details. Today, a neo-Tudor school building from the 19th century occupies the site, while Pope's subterranean grotto remains as a surviving element from the original property.

The original classical house was built in 1719 and later demolished in 1808 after Baroness Howe acquired the property. She then constructed a replacement building on adjacent land, effectively ending the era of Pope's residence on the site.

The property was home to one of England's earliest landscape gardens, designed by Pope himself to blend natural beauty with classical principles. Visitors can still observe the carefully arranged mineral collections in the grotto, which reflected Pope's passion for both art and natural history.

The grotto opens to visitors on selected weekends throughout the year and appeals to those interested in historical structures and mineral specimens. Expect cool, damp conditions and limited headroom in the underground passages when planning a visit.

The grotto is decorated with minerals from Peru, Egypt, Italy, Germany, Norway, and the Caribbean, including rare basalt pieces from Ireland's Giant's Causeway. This global mineral collection is remarkable for an 18th-century private project and reveals Pope's fascination with exotic natural materials.