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 ...

anthropic rock material invented by James Pulham (1820–1898) of the firm James Pulham and Son of Broxbourne in

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

. 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 ...

s and grottos.

Overview

Pulhamite, which usually looked like gritty

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

, 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 the inventor. Modern analysis of surviving original Pulhamite has 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 (masonry), mortar, stucco, and non-specialty grout. It was developed from other types of hydraulic lime in England in th ...

and clinker sculpted over a core of rubble and crushed

brick A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...

s. It can be viewed in these places: *Dane Park, Margate * Neo-Norman gatehouse and folly at Benington Lordship in Hertfordshire *Rockery, Burslem Park * Cascade and Rock Garden,

Ramsgate Ramsgate is a seaside resort, seaside town and civil parish in the district of Thanet District, Thanet in eastern Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2021 it had a population of 42,027. Ramsgate' ...

, * Courtstairs Chine, Ramsgate, * Garden Folly, Sydenham Hill Wood, Sydenham, London. * Grottoes at Dewstow Gardens, South Wales * Dunorlan Park,

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells (formerly, until 1909, and still commonly 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 ...

Felixstowe Felixstowe ( ) is a port town and civil parish in the East Suffolk District, East Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England. The estimated population in 2017 was 24,521. The Port of Felixstowe is the largest Containerization, containe ...

Spa and Winter Garden, Suffolk * Fernery and waterfall, Bromley Palace Park,

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is southeast of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 88,000 as of 2023. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, charte ...

* Grotto, Wotton House,

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

* 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 Runnymede Meadow, The Commonwealth Air Forces Memorial, The Savill Garden,and Royal Holloway, University of L ...

* Henley Hall, Shropshire * Lake and rockery, Milton Mount Gardens,

Crawley Crawley () is a town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, 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 populat ...

* Leonardslee, rockery in Grade I listed garden at Lower Beeding, near Horsham, West Sussex, England. * Newstead Abbey fernery, Nottinghamshire * Rock Cliff, Bawdsey Manor,

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

* 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 baronets, Guise family and, in the mid-19th century, was purchased by a mem ...

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

* Zig-zag Path, Lower Leas Coastal Park,

Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a coastal 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, shipping port, and fashionable coastal res ...

* Rosshall Park,

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

* Gardens at

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

, Buckinghamshire * Heythrop Park, 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, London, Chelsea and was opened in 1858. The park occupies ...

, London. * Madresfield Court and gardens, Worcestershire * Gardens at Coombe Wood, Croydon. * Colney Hall near

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

* Cliffs at North Shore, BlackpoolUnknown
/ref> * Former Terraced Gardens,

Rivington Rivington is a village and Civil parishes in England, 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 ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

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, Surrey

References

External links

The Pulham LegacyDurability Guaranteed – Pulhamite Rockwork
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222135553/https://content.historicengland.org.uk/images-books/publications/durability-guaranteed-pulhamite-rockwork/durabilityguaranteedpulhamite.pdf , date=2015-12-22 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, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

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