Waterfall in Albion Place Gardens, Ramsgate-geograph-4572203

Pulhamite was a

patented A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...

anthropic rock Anthropic rock is rock that is made, modified and moved by humans. Concrete is the most widely known example of this. The new category has been proposed to recognise that man-made rocks are likely to last for long periods of Earth's future geolog ...

material invented by James Pulham (1820–1898) of the firm

James Pulham and Son James Pulham and Son was a firm of Victorian landscape gardeners and terracotta manufacturers which exhibited and won medals at London's Great Exhibition of 1851 and 1862 International Exhibition. History James Pulham and Son was founded by J ...

Broxbourne Broxbourne is a town and former civil parish, now in the unparished area of Hoddesdon, in the Broxbourne district, in Hertfordshire, England, north of London, with a population of 15,303 at the 2011 Census.Broxbourne Town population 2011 It is ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

. It was widely used for

rock garden A rock garden, also known as a rockery and formerly as a rockwork, is a garden, or more often a part of a garden, with a landscaping framework of rocks, stones, and gravel, with planting appropriate to this setting. Usually these are small A ...

s and grottos.

Overview

Pulhamite, which usually looked like gritty

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

, was used to join natural rocks together or crafted to simulate natural stone features. It was so realistic that it fooled some geologists of the era. The recipe went to the grave with him. Modern analysis of surviving original Pulhamite have shown it to be a blend of sand,

Portland cement Portland cement is the most common type of cement in general use around the world as a basic ingredient of concrete, mortar, stucco, and non-specialty grout. It was developed from other types of hydraulic lime in England in the early 19th c ...

and clinker sculpted over a core of

rubble Rubble is broken stone, of irregular size, shape and texture; undressed especially as a filling-in. Rubble naturally found in the soil is known also as 'brash' (compare cornbrash)."Rubble" def. 2., "Brash n. 2. def. 1. ''Oxford English Dictionary ...

and crushed

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

s. * Neo-Norman gatehouse and folly at Benington Lordship in Hertfordshire *Rockery,

Burslem Park Burslem Park is a public park in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. It was opened in 1894, and is essentially unchanged from the original layout. It is listed Grade II* in Historic England's Register of Parks and Gardens. History T ...

* Cascade and Rock Garden,

Ramsgate Ramsgate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the district of Thanet District, Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2001 it had a population of about 40,000. In 2011, according to t ...

, * Courtstairs

Chine A chine () is a steep-sided coastal gorge where a river flows to the sea through, typically, soft eroding cliffs of sandstone or clays. The word is still in use in central Southern England—notably in East Devon, Dorset, Hampshire and the Isl ...

, Ramsgate, * Garden Folly,

Sydenham Hill Wood Sydenham Hill Wood is a ten-hectare wood on the northern slopes of the Norwood Ridge in the London Borough of Southwark. It is designated as a Local Nature Reserve and Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation. With the adjacent ...

, Sydenham, London. * Grottoes at Dewstow Gardens, South Wales *

Dunorlan Park Dunorlan Park is a park and grounds in Royal Tunbridge Wells, UK. Totalling approximately and containing a lake, the grounds were landscaped by Robert Marnock for Henry Reed, the merchant and philanthropist who owned the estate and the now ...

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the Weald, High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Roc ...

Felixstowe Felixstowe ( ) is a port town in Suffolk, England. The estimated population in 2017 was 24,521. The Port of Felixstowe is the largest container port in the United Kingdom. Felixstowe is approximately 116km (72 miles) northeast of London. His ...

Spa and Winter Garden, Suffolk *

Fernery A fernery is a specialized garden for the cultivation and display of ferns. In many countries, ferneries are indoors or at least sheltered or kept in a shadehouse to provide a moist environment, filtered light and protection from frost and other ...

and waterfall,

Bromley Palace Bromley Palace (also known as the Bishop's Palace) is a manor house in Bromley, London Borough of Bromley; and was the residence of the Bishops of Rochester from the 12th century to 1845. The building, which is now part of Bromley Civic centre, is ...

Park,

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, char ...

* Grotto, Wotton House,

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

* Water course and pump tower, The Dell,

Englefield Green Englefield Green is a large village in the Borough of Runnymede, Surrey, England, approximately west of central London. It is home to Royal Holloway, University of London. The village grew from a hamlet in the 19th century, when much of Egham ( ...

Henley Hall, Shropshire Henley Hall is a building of historical significance and is listed on the English Heritage Register. It was built in about 1610 by the Powys family and then substantially changed in 1772. Additions were again made in the late 19th century. It is ...

* Lake and rockery,

Milton Mount Gardens Worth Park (formerly known as Milton Mount Gardens) is in Pound Hill, Crawley. The park covers eight hectares and includes formal gardens, and a lake area. Some of the trees in the park today may exist from the original 1840s planting an ...

Crawley Crawley () is a large town and borough in West Sussex, England. It is south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Crawley covers an area of and had a population of 106,597 at the time of th ...

Leonardslee Leonardslee is an English country house and English landscape garden and woodland garden in Lower Beeding, near Horsham, West Sussex, England. The Grade I listed garden is particularly significant for its spring displays of rhododendrons, azal ...

, rockery in Grade I listed gardenn at Lower Beeding, near Horsham, West Sussex, England. *

Newstead Abbey Newstead Abbey, in Nottinghamshire, England, was formerly an Augustinian priory. Converted to a domestic home following the Dissolution of the Monasteries, it is now best known as the ancestral home of Lord Byron. Monastic foundation The prior ...

fernery A fernery is a specialized garden for the cultivation and display of ferns. In many countries, ferneries are indoors or at least sheltered or kept in a shadehouse to provide a moist environment, filtered light and protection from frost and other ...

, Nottinghamshire * Rock Cliff,

Bawdsey Manor Bawdsey Manor stands at a prominent position at the mouth of the River Deben close to the village of Bawdsey in Suffolk, England, about northeast of London. Built in 1886, it was enlarged in 1895 as the principal residence of Sir William Cu ...

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

* Water Garden,

Highnam Court Highnam Court is a Grade I listed country house in Highnam, Gloucestershire, England, constructed in the 17th century. The estate passed from the Cooke family to the Guise family and, in the mid-19th century, was purchased by a member of the Gamb ...

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

* Zig-zag Path, Lower Leas Coastal Park,

Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a port town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour and shipping port for most of the 19th and 20t ...

* Rosshall Park,

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

* Gardens at

Waddesdon Manor Waddesdon Manor is a country house in the village of Waddesdon, in Buckinghamshire, England. Owned by National Trust and managed by the Rothschild Foundation, it is one of the National Trust's most visited properties, with over 463,000 visitors i ...

, Buckinghamshire *

Heythrop Park Heythrop Park is a Grade II* listed early 18th-century country house southeast of Heythrop in Oxfordshire. It was designed by the architect Thomas Archer in the Baroque style for Charles Talbot, 1st Duke of Shrewsbury. A fire in 1831 destroyed th ...

, Oxfordshire * Fernery at Danesbury Park, Hertfordshire. * Waterfall at

Battersea Park Battersea Park is a 200-acre (83-hectare) green space at Battersea in the London Borough of Wandsworth in London. It is situated on the south bank of the River Thames opposite Chelsea and was opened in 1858. The park occupies marshland reclai ...

, London. * Gardens at

Coombe Wood Coombe Wood is a small () woodland and garden area in the old village of Coombe, South Croydon near the junction of Coombe Lane and Conduit Lane. The Coombe Wood Gardens are divided into a series of rooms which together give an all-year-round di ...

, Croydon. * Colney Hall near

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

* Cliffs at

North Shore, Blackpool North Shore is an inner-suburb of Blackpool in the Borough of Blackpool, Lancashire, England. It forms the northern part of both the town and is situated along Queen's Promenade between Blackpool and Bispham. History North Shore was the lo ...

https://democracy.blackpool.gov.uk/documents/s49453/Appendix%20A%20Cabin%20Lift.pdf * Former Terraced Gardens,

Rivington Rivington is a village and civil parish of the Borough of Chorley, Lancashire, England, occupying . It is about southeast of Chorley and about northwest of Bolton. Rivington is a rural area consisting primarily of agricultural grazing land, ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

Gallery

File:Pulhamite Cliff Walk at Bawdsey Manor-geograph-2346581.jpg, Pulhamite cliff walk at Bawdsey Manor File:Sydenham Woods - a folly-geograph-2208729-by-Brian-Whittle.jpg, Folly in Sydenham Hill Wood File:Pulham rocks in the Water Garden at Waddesdon Manor estate.jpg, Pulham rocks in the Water Garden at

estate File:Folkestone, Leas Cliff Zig-Zag-Path-geograph-2285893-by-Helmut-Zozmann.jpg, Zig-zag Path in Folkestone File:Pulhamite grotto at Wotton House.jpg, Pulhamite grotto at

Wotton House Wotton House, Wotton Underwood, Buckinghamshire, England, is a stately home built between 1704 and 1714, to a design very similar to that of the contemporary version of Buckingham House. The house is an example of English Baroque and a Grade I l ...

, Surrey

References

{{Reflist

External links

The Pulham LegacyDurability Guaranteed – Pulhamite Rockwork
pdf file on the

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

website.
The Story of Pulhamite RockworkPulham at Waddesdon Manor video
Building stone Architectural history Rock formations Victorian architecture Gardening in England

Overview

Gallery

See also

References

External links