The Cascade is also a stop on our Bromley Town Centre Park Trail, here.
The Pulhamite Cascade Installation (Grade II Listed by Historic England)
The Cascade is one of the stops on our Bromley Town Centre Park Trail, here.
This is one of the four installations by James Pulham & Sons, to create status-symbol rocky features in the fashionable gardens of Society. They were modelled on the waterfalls found where a rock called the Millstone Grit outcrops in the Peak District.
It’s existence was a suprise discovery in 2006, when the chair of Bromley Civic Society (Tony) together with other enthusiasts, decided to see what was underneath a large bramble patch. “It was a bit like finding your own Lost Garden of Heligan”, he said later.
The Monet-style bridge
Our cascade also had a little bridge at the top – unfortunately, for some reason the council contractor has moved this to the bottom. The bridge was probably only for visual effect – you had to have good balance to cross with it, as it is rather small and narrow.
James Pulham & Sons sent their craftsmen to Derbyshire to see the actual rocks, which helped them model them convincingly. Since they were mostly based in the South East (where there are no rocks and no natural waterfalls) this would have been quite a long trip for working class men, who normally never travelled more than about 50 miles.
The page about the Bromley Palace Park, with the other historic features in it, is here.
Browse our old photos, in 