Marsden Grotto

The Marsden Grotto, locally known as The Grotto, is a gastropub located on the coast at Marsden in South Shields, Tyne & Wear, England. It is partly dug into the cliff face and fronted with a more conventional building opening onto the beach. The pub is one of the very few "cave bars" in Europe, another being Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem in Nottingham. The venue includes a large bar, the inside cave with another bar and pool room, a bistro, a heated terrace on the beach and a seafood restaurant upstairs. Access is either by lift from the car park or by a zigzag staircase on the cliff at the side of the building. The lift is housed in a brick shaft rising from the front of the building.