On the edge of Bolton, in Greater Manchester, there is a splendid, rambling Elizabethan manor house called Smithills Hall. It is one of the oldest halls in Lancashire – part of it actually dates back to the reign of King John in the 14th century, and it has been added to progressively since that time. Continue reading “1873 – Smithills Hall, Bolton, Lancashire”
People and Places Discussed and Pictured in Chapter 37 of: more
John Walter II, the then chief proprietor of The Times newspaper, purchased the 8,000 acre Bearwood estate in Wokingham, Berkshire, in 1816, and commissioned William Gilpin to landscape the gardens between 1819-20 – a commission inherited by David Stewart c1822.[i] Continue reading “1879-85 – Bearwood College, Wokingham, Berkshire”
James Pulham and Son only worked on a small number of sites outside mainland Britain, and only four of these were in Eire – St Anne’s, Clonart; Mount Coote, Limerick; Glenart Castle, Co Wicklow, and St Stephen’s Green, in Dublin, which is the best preserved, and the subject of this article. Continue reading “1880 – St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin”
The first indication that Pulhams may have worked in Europe was contained in a book by Annie Christensen, and reviewed by Peter Hayden.[i] She recorded that the firm may have been involved in the construction of a bridge and some rockwork in the grounds of Gisselfeld Castle, in Denmark, and that the likely date was c.1894. Continue reading “1891-94 – Gisselfeld, Denmark”
The grounds of Luton Hoo were originally laid out by ‘Capability’ Brown c1770, for John Stuart, the 3rd Earl of Bute, who was Prime Minister for a short period from 1762-63. In 1903, Sir Julius Wernher – who made his fortune from the Kimberley diamond mines of South Africa [i] – bought the estate, and made many alterations and additions to the house and grounds. Continue reading “1909-10 – Luton Hoo, Luton, Bedfordshire”
Granville W.G. Leveson Gower – an amateur historian, archaeologist and antiquarian – inherited ‘Titsey Place’, near Oxted, Surrey, during the late 19th century, and laid out the framework of the gardens, ‘joining the lakes together, and giving the lakes more of a “naturalistic” shape.’ [i] The lakes are fed from a chalybeate spring that bubbles up from under a rock in the middle of the gardens, and flows through a stream into the top lake, and then tumbles over a waterfall, under a stone bridge, and into the lower lake. Continue reading “1871 – Titsey Place, Oxted, Surrey”
The Pulham Legacy 