The Pulhamite Fernery

The fernery is stop 2 in our Bromley Palace Park trail, see here.

The Fernery is one of the four Grade 2 listed features in the park. When Coles-Child bought the title of ‘Lord Of The Manor’ of Bromley from the Diocese of Rochester, he set about creating a garden worthy of his new position. He engaged James Pulham and Sons to create some fashionable rock features, they used an early form of concrete to create convincing rocks and cliffs – craftsmen sculpted the concrete over a brick frame. It took 5 years to complete the work. The Pulhamite structures are notable for being in a little-altered 19th Century landscape.

An Old an Unusual Bush

Look in the summer and you might see one of the ornate flowers on the Carolina Sweet Bush, a rare flowering bush that is a native of the south of the USA, and was introduced to horticulture, and became fashionable in the 1860s.

The one here has survived from the original historic planting, so this bush is about 140 years old! 

Pioneers of Portland Cement:

James Pulham (1820-98) was the son of one of the pioneers of Portland cement, and he invented ‘Pulhamite’ rock, a special cement. The technique was to pour the cement over a structure made up of clinker and scrap brickwork, when the cement could be shaped into boulder-like formations. The ‘rocks’ could be made very convincing with a various surface finishes – apparently it deceived naturalist(s) though who the shamefaced naturalist is not named. Our Fernery is a large feature: 15 meters along, and 5 meters from side-to-side.

The other historic structures in the park are listed on the Bromley Palace Park page, here.

If you look on the other side of the fernery there is a path around the north side of the Moat.

Raising the crown of the Yew trees allowed more light into the Fernery in 2023.