Victorian Fountain, Dunorlan Park - geograph

Tomb of William Mulready in Kensal Green Cemetery-geograph-4364330-by-Marathon

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 James Pulham (1765-1830) of Woodbridge in Suffolk, then succeeded by his son James (1793–1838) who was succeeded by his eldest son James (1820–1898) and then by two further generations of eldest sons, all named James. The firm went out of business in 1939. The firm was best known for the construction of rock gardens,

follies ''Follies'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman. The plot takes place in a crumbling Broadway theater, now scheduled for demolition, previously home to a musical revue (based on the ''Ziegfeld Fol ...

and grottoes using both natural stone and their own invention, Pulhamite artificial rock. Pulham and Son also manufactured a wide range of

terracotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic where the fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, and architecture, terracotta ...

and Pulhamite garden ornaments, originally at their works in

Tottenham Tottenham () is a town in North London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, bordering Edmonton to the north, Wal ...

, but after 1840 at

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 I ...

in Hertfordshire. In 1895 the firm was granted a Royal Warrant by the Prince of Wales, later

King Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria a ...

, and some of their work survives at

Sandringham House Sandringham House is a country house in the parish of Sandringham, Norfolk, England. It is one of the royal residences of Charles III, whose grandfather, George VI, and great-grandfather, George V, both died there. The house stands in a estat ...

and Buckingham Palace. At the Great Exhibition of 1862, the firm exhibited the upper section of the Hebe Fountain, surmounted by a portrayal of Hebe, daughter of Zeus. James Pullham II (the son) received a recommendation for the architectural decoration in terracotta. The fountain is now at

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 no ...

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 High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Rocks. T ...

.Pulham.org article on the fountain
/ref> At the 1867 Paris Exhibition the company showed the "Preston vase" (several of which were made for the People's Park, Preston), and the Mulready monument. The latter, modelled by Godfrey Sykes consisted of a pedestal 15 feet long and 10 feet wide, supporting an effigy, seven feet long, on a raised bier. It won a silver medal at the exhibition, and was installed at

Kensal Green cemetery Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of Queens Park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, it was founded by the barrister George Frederick ...

on its return from Paris.

Works

*Statues on the Freemasons lodge (The Castle) at Woodridge (1814) *Statue of Old Father Time on the "Little Castle" at Woodridge (1816) *Facade of the Female Orphan Asylum at

*Bull carving for the "Black Bull Inn" in

Holborn Holborn ( or ) is a district in central London, which covers the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Camden and a part ( St Andrew Holborn Below the Bars) of the Ward of Farringdon Without in the City of London. The area has its root ...

*Bust of Alfred the Great (1825) *Bust of

William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy a ...

(1825) *Garden layout at

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 ...

References

External links

The Pulham Legacy

Durability 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 English landscape and garden designers {{Horticulture-stub