Pulhamite Fernery, Bromley Palace Park
PULHAMITE FERNERY, BROMLEY PALACE PARK, STOCKWELL CLOSE
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1392584
- Date first listed:
- 30-Apr-2008
- List Entry Name:
- Pulhamite Fernery, Bromley Palace Park
- Statutory Address:
- PULHAMITE FERNERY, BROMLEY PALACE PARK, STOCKWELL CLOSE
Location
Location of this list entry and nearby places that are also listed. Use our map search to find more listed places.
Use of this mapping is subject to terms and conditions .
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale.
What is the National Heritage List for England?
The National Heritage List for England is a unique register of our country's most significant historic buildings and sites. The places on the list are protected by law and most are not open to the public.
The list includes:
 |
Buildings |
 |
Scheduled monuments |
 |
Parks and gardens |
 |
Battlefields |
 |
Shipwrecks |
Local Heritage Hub
Unlock and explore hidden histories, aerial photography, and listed buildings and places for every county, district, city and major town across England.
Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1392584
- Date first listed:
- 30-Apr-2008
- List Entry Name:
- Pulhamite Fernery, Bromley Palace Park
- Statutory Address 1:
- PULHAMITE FERNERY, BROMLEY PALACE PARK, STOCKWELL CLOSE
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- PULHAMITE FERNERY, BROMLEY PALACE PARK, STOCKWELL CLOSE
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Greater London Authority
- District:
- Bromley (London Borough)
- Parish:
- Non Civil Parish
- National Grid Reference:
- TQ 40772 69143
Reasons for Designation
The Pulhamite fernery of c.1865 at the north end of the lake at Bromley's former bishop's palace is designated for listing, for the following principal reasons: * It is a good and little-altered example of the artificial rock work (Pulhamite) produced in the C19 by James Pulham's firm * It sits within a little-altered mid-C19 landscape setting, at the end of a lake and amidst trees.
Details
This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 30/01/2014
785/1/10145
STOCKWELL CLOSE
Pulhamite fernery, Bromley Palace Park
(Formerly listed under KENTISH WAY)
30-APR-08
II
Pulhamite artificial rock-work fernery of c.1865, constructed by the firm of Pulhams, garden contractors.
DESCRIPTION: The fernery comprises a curving mass of linear, bedded, Pulhamite rockwork, overall approximately 15m across and 5m deep. Some of the individual rocks are over a cubic metre in size. The rockwork is set in a bank at the head of the north end of the lake, with a central cleft through which water flowed in to a basin at its base, and thence 5m to St Blaise's Well, which in turn fed directly into to the lake. The rockwork has a brown, sandy exterior finish, although one bedding plane is of a blueish rock which may be natural in origin. In some places the exterior skin has broken off exposing the scrap-brick core of the rockwork.
HISTORY: 'Pulhamite' rock-work was developed by James Pulham (c.1820-98), the son of one the pioneers of Portland cement manufacture. In the 1840s he began to use this cement as an ingredient in the construction of artificial rock-work. Masses of clinker and scrap brickwork were assembled, cement was poured over them, and they were moulded into boulder-like formations. Various surface finishes produced highly convincing and various artificial rock types, so convincing as at times to deceive naturalists. At Bromley, after changes to the boundary of the bishopric in 1845 the Palace became the private house of Coles Child, a wealthy coal merchant. He extended the house using Richard Norman Shaw as architect in 1863, and by 1865 was ornamenting his grounds, employing James Pulham over a five year period to create what contemporary records describe as a fernery and waterfall. It is the former which stands at the north end of the lake, with the waterfall to the south.
REASONS FOR DESIGNATION DECISION: The Pulhamite fernery of c.1865 at the north end of the lake at Bromley's former bishop's palace is listed for the following principal reasons:
* It is a good and little-altered example of the artificial rock work (Pulhamite) produced in the C19 by James Pulham's firm
* It sits within a little-altered mid-C19 landscape setting, at the end of a lake and amidst trees.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 503793
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 07-Jun-2026 at 23:23:19.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.