Pulhamite And Terracotta Fountain, Dunorlan Park

Pulhamite and Terracotta Fountain, Dunorlan Park

A fountain made of Pulhamite artificial rock and moulded terracotta, designed and first exhibited by James Pulham at the International Exhibition of 1862 at South Kensington. It was subsequently purchased and enlarged for Henry Reed, owner of the Dunorlan estate.

The fountain sits at the south-east end of Dunorlan Park, forming the focal point at the southern end of a cedar avenue, opposite the Grecian temple which marks the focal point at the north-east end. The large Pulhamite pond basin has a quatrefoil shape incorporating four small plinths that once bore Triton figures with water jets, though these are no longer in place. The central tapering fountain shaft has a lower gadrooned section surmounted by terracotta figures of four mermaids seated on dolphins which spout water. Above this is a large shallow bowl. The shaft is then decorated with four male terracotta figures, figures of Venus and male masks. Below this section is a smaller shallow Pulhamite bowl with moulded terracotta swags and dolphins from which eight jets are directed into the lower bowl. The fountain is surmounted by a statue of Hebe.

The upper portion of the fountain was originally displayed at the International Exhibition of 1862, where it was called the "Hebe" fountain after its crowning statue, based on Canova's sculptures. When installed at Dunorlan Park, a lower section with bowl and terracotta figures and a pond basin were added. The firm completed the scheme by 1864, with the fountain appearing on the 1867 Ordnance Survey map and illustrated in a lithograph of 1872.

Dunorlan estate was developed from Calverley Farm, purchased by John Ward in 1823. In 1854 it was sold to Henry Reed, a businessman who had made his fortune in Tasmania. Reed demolished the original farmhouse and built a new house in Italianate style called Dunorlan. The grounds were laid out by Scottish landscape gardener Robert Marnock (1811–1890), whilst James Pulham was commissioned to provide Pulhamite rockwork, a Pulhamite cascade, and likely extended and reshaped the lake. Unusually, Pulham's work at Dunorlan also included a Pulhamite Grecian temple.

In 1874 Reed sold Dunorlan to the Collins family, who retained ownership until 1945 when Tunbridge Wells Borough Council purchased the site. The main house was severely damaged by fire in 1946 and demolished in 1958. Major restoration of Dunorlan Park took place in 2003–2004 following a Heritage Lottery Fund award of £2.1 million. The fountain was restored, though many terracotta parts including the Hebe statue required recasting, and the four Triton figures were not replaced due to concerns about vandalism.

Pulhamite rockwork was developed by James Pulham (c.1820–1898), son of a Portland cement manufacturing pioneer. From the 1840s he began using cement as an ingredient in constructing ornamental artificial rockwork. Masses of clinker and scrap brickwork were assembled, cement poured over them, and moulded into boulder-like formations. Various surface finishes produced highly convincing artificial rock types. Beyond naturalistic rockeries, the Pulham firm also produced classically styled ornaments such as fountain basins in moulded terracotta. Pulham's creations became a major feature of many mid and late Victorian garden designs.