Cheriton Winter Grotto

For the inaugural installment of their Cheriton Artland programme, Strange Cargo unveiled The Winter Grotto, an immersive installation at their workshop, The Factory, located at 43 Geraldine Road in Cheriton. This event was a vibrant celebration of the local community.

The Winter Grotto featured over two thousand handcrafted little houses, a floor-sized Ordnance Survey map of the area, and a hundred local voices reading Charles Dickens’ classic novella, A Christmas Carol. Together, these elements created a breathtaking and engaging experience for visitors.

As the first project in Strange Cargo's new programme, The Winter Grotto aimed to introduce extraordinary creative interventions into unexpected places, elevate the profile of the arts in Cheriton, and foster wider creative collaborations across the UK and beyond. The project was developed in close partnership with ArtReach consultants to secure new funding and support.

Throughout December, from the 1st to the 23rd, free workshops invited the community to decorate a house and contribute to the map room.

Special thanks to Arts Council England and the Paul Hamlyn Foundation for their support.