Timber and Stone Grotto

This timber and stone grotto was built the summer of 2006 in the Black Hills in western South Dakota. The finished grotto will be the home of a statue of the Virgin Mary. I constructed the grotto to fit perfectly against the rock outcropping located directly behind it. The roof of the grotto overlaps the rock edge at the back and has been created so that it can be used as a planter for ground cover plants or moss.