"What a super book! Great photos, and such interesting facts - it all makes a fascinating read." Christine Walkden - BBC- TV and Radio 4 Gardening Expert
"This is a wonderful book, tracing the history of the family firm and the marvellous structures they created, in great detail. There are detailed accounts of 40 of the firm's most prestigious structures, stunningly photographed by professional garden photographer Jennifer Lilly. There is even a detailed chronological gazetteer of all the known Pulhamite sites. Definitely a must for your Christmas present list and garden history bookshelf. Hazelle Jackson, Heritage Consultant London Landscapes Autumn/Winter 2012
"It is excellent . . . A brilliant piece of work - I thoroughly recommend it" Peter Seabrook - Gardening Writer and Broadcaster Amateur Gardening
"The result of many years' patient research, pulling together fascinating information on the Pulhams' work, which extended from grand gardens such as Sandringham and Waddesdon to modest suburban villas" The Times
"A Charming Labour of Love, this offers everything you could wish to know about Pulhamite - and probably much more... The photographs are superb, the research exhaustive and the gazetteer makes it invaluable for the study, restoration and maintenance of Pulhamite features in 19th to early 20th-century gardens" BBC Gardens Illustrated
This book tells the story of James Pulham & Son, the eminent family of Victorian and Edwardian landscape artists who specialized in the construction of picturesque rock gardens, ferneries, follies and grottoes. The book covers more than four generations of the family business that was also responsible for the manufacture of extremely high-quality terracotta garden ornaments including fountains, vases, sundials and bulastrading. The rock gardens, for which the firm are mainly remembered today, were built with 'artifical' rocks - formed from heaps of old bricks and rubble, coated with cement, and sculpted to simulate the color and texture of natural stone. The author's interest in James Pulham & Son stems from the fact that no fewer than five of his ancestors worked for the company as 'rock builders'. Features many incredibly famous locations, including Buckingham Palace, Sandringham, Heatherden Hall, Waddesdon Manor, Battersea Park, Friar Park and RHS Garden Wisley.
Claude Hitching is a retired Management Accountant, and started to research his family tree in 1999. Knowing that his grandfather, Fred Hitching, worked for James Pulham and Son as a 'Rock Builder', he soon discovered that five of his ancestors - including his grandfather and great-grandfather - all worked for the firm in the same capacity. Claude spent the next 10 years researching the family and their business and received endorsements and encouragement for his research from several National organizations, such as English Heritage, the Garden History Society and the National Trust. After setting up his website devoted to the Pulhams in 2003, traffic increased steadily to several thousand visitors per month, and his reputation as 'The Pulham Expert' spread to the point where he has been able to assist a number of local authorities and organizations validate the provenance of their parks and gardens, and thus qualify for Heritage Lottery restoration grants.
