Pulhamite in Sydenham

In 2008 English Heritage published a guide to the work of Pulham & Co, who created artificial garden landscapes including grottos, temples and follys. The company developed cement that bore a striking resemblance to natural stone and called it Pulhamite.

Pulhams produced a prospectus in 1877 listing the gardens they had worked on up to that date including six in Sydenham and two in Forest Hill. Most of these gardens can be identified, and one or two Pulhamie structures have survived. In each case the site name, completion date and client is given. With the name of the client it is relatively easy to identify where these grottos and follys were built.

“Hill Wood, Sydenham Hill; 1863, 1866; Alderman Stone”

This is the folly in Sydenham Hill Woods. Alderman David Henry Stone, one time Lord Mayor of London, lived at Fairwood, 53 Sydenham Hill from 1864 (when the house was built) until about 1869. Fairwood was immediately to the south of Beechgrove.

“(Site in) Sydenham Hill, SE26 (may be Kingswood House?),London; 1870; L Clark”

This was not Kingswood, it was actually Beechmount, later Hitherwood, 19 Sydenham Hill near the lane that goes past the old reservoir to College Road (?Rock Hills). It was occupied by Latimer Clark, a civil engineer, between about 1864 and 1882.

“(Site in) Sydenham Hill, London SE26; 1874, 1875; Dr Barry”

This is the surviving Fountain House, 17 Sydenham Hill which still has an extraordinary fountain surviving the back garden. "Dr Barry" was Dr John Boyle Barry, a surgeon who lived at the house between 1871 and 1879.

“(Site in) Sydenham, London SE26; 1869; H Gover”
This was the surviving Lyncombe, 1 Crescent Wood Road, occupied by Henry Gover, a solicitor, from before 1871 until 1895. There is something that might be the remains of a folly visible from the path to Sydenham Hill station.

“(Site in) Sydenham, London SE26; 1869; W J Mace”
This was somewhere on the Lawrie Park estate,but I'm not sure where.

“(Site in) Sydenham Hill, London SE26; 1869; F Peek”
Francis Peek lived at 21 Sydenham Hill until 1869 then moved to 7 Crescent Wood Road so I suppose it could be either of those.

“(Site in) Forest Hill, London SE23; 1865; J Fielding”

This was The Grange, Honor Oak Road (between Benson and Ewelme Roads) where John Crossley Fielding lived between 1854 and 1878. He also used Owen Jones to decorate his drawing room.

“(Site in) Forest Hill, London SE23; 1869; H Moser”

Henry Moser lived at Westwood Lodge, 70 Honor Oak Road, from about 1862 until 1872. The site is now occupied by a block of flats.

History of Beechgrove, Sydenham Hill

Beechgrove was near Cox's Walk, opposite Lammas Green. A stretch of garden wall along Sydenham Hill survives. The house was built about 1862. The first occupant, William Patterson, was an East India merchant and he called his new house “Singapore”. After a couple of years he decided “Beechgrove” was more appropriate. Patterson lived there until his death in 1898.

The next two occupants have entries in the Dictionary of National Biography. By 1911 Samuel Herbert Benson had moved from London Road, Forest Hill to Beechgrove. Benson had been invited by John Lawson Johnston (another local person) to become the advertising agent for Bovril. He is regarded as the originator of modern advertising campaigns by using advertisements to engage potential buyers rather than merely informing them. His company was eventually absorbed by Ogilvy & Mather who were, allegedly, the inspiration for the advertising agency in the television series “Mad Men”.

Benson was followed at Beechgrove by Sir William Watson Cheyne who lived there from 1919 to 1921, a distinguished surgeon who was assistant to Joseph Lister and, later, President of the Royal College of Surgeons. During his time at Beechgrove he also served as an MP.

In 1922 Frederick Aubrey Norris moved into Beechgrove. He was an engineer whose firm, F A Norris & Co, made iron staircases, particularly fire escapes. In 1930 Norris moved to Eliot Lodge, Kirkdale and Miss Rose Ellis moved into Beechgrove. She had moved out by 1932 when Lionel Logue and his family moved in. In time Logue’s children left home, his wife died, the house became too large and expensive to maintain and, in April 1947, Logue moved to a flat in Knightsbridge.

The house seems to have been unoccupied until, on 17 June 1952, it opened as Beechgrove Home for the Aged Sick, run by the Red Cross to provide nursing care for patients who had been discharged from hospital but still needed medical care. When the Home closed in 1960 the house remained unoccupied again until it was demolished in 1983.

Several sources suggest that the folly in Sydenham Hill Woods was once in the grounds of Beechgrove. This was not the case. It was in the grounds of Fairwood, the house immediately to the south of Beechgrove. Fairwood was built in about 1862 and the first occupant was Alderman David Henry Stone, Lord Mayor of London. Shortly after moving to Fairwood he commissioned James Pulham & Son to build the folly. Pulhamite garden ornaments are now highly regarded and a number have been listed by English Heritage. There are at least two other surviving examples hidden away in gardens along Sydenham Hill.

Beechgrove now is little more than an overgrown pile of rubble although a section of the garden wall survives to its full height along the boundary with Fairwood and remains of the greenhouses can be seen along the boundary with Lapsewood to the north.