James Pulham And Son by Claude Hitching
Description
The Pulham Legacy
James Pulham and Son were eminent landscape gardeners of the 19th and early 20th centuries, and are now most widely remembered for the spectacular rock gardens they created in many country estates around the United Kingdom, including the Royal Estates at Sandringham and Buckingham Palace, and the RHS Gardens Wisley.
Claude Hitching has researched the lives and work of the Pulhams and has just completed his book on the lives and work of James Pulham and Son, and look forward to it being published in the coming months. His interest stems from the fact that no fewer than five of his ancestors – including his grandfather and great-grandfather – all used to work for them as ‘Rock Builders.’
Wherever economically or practically possible, Pulhams would always, of choice, prefer to construct their rock gardens from natural stone, but, if this was not economically available, they would literally ‘build their own’ by making heaps of old bricks and rubble, and coating these with cement. The craftsmanship of their workmen was based on their ability to sculpt the surfaces of these ‘rocks’ to simulate natural stone – hence their quite literal job description of ‘rock builder.’
