Albion Place Gardens, Madeira Walk and Royal Parade, Ramsgate :: Shared Description

These formed a major urban improvement project under the town's Improvement Act of 1878, creating a major vehicle and pedestrian link between the West and East Cliffs..

To the east of the harbour, construction of Madeira Walk commenced in 1891, creating a new road link between the harbour and Wellington Crescent/Victoria Parade. The rock walls along Madeira Walk were commenced in 1893. Improved gardens were developed in the triangular space between Madeira Walk and the terraces of Albion Place, including an artificial cascade. The gardens and Madeira Walk from a Grade II Listed Park and Garden ( LinkExternal link ), while the rock formations including the cascade are separately Listed Grade II. ( LinkExternal link )

To the west of the harbour, Royal Parade runs from the harbour up to West Cliff. It comprises a wide roadway carried on a series of brick retaining arches, with a pedestrian promenade at a higher level than the roadway also supported by brick retaining arches. The lower arches have terracotta roundels with heraldic shields in the spandrels, and the parapets of both upper and lower walls have stone balustrades with terracotta dressings, supporting cast iron lamps on alternate bays. The spaces within the arches are filled with Pulhamite artificial rock. Royal Parade is Listed Grade II ( LinkExternal link )

Pulhamite, is an artificial stone invented by James Pulham and Son. The Historic England Listing describes it as follows:
“James Pulham and Son of Broxbourne in Hertfordshire were amongst several . . . makers [of artificial stone], and also specialised in terracotta ornaments. The longevity of their company which lasted from about 1845 to 1945 under the leadership of three generations of Pulham, all named James, marked them out, as did the quality of their products. Their work and patrons included relatively modest suburban villas as well as bankers, ship and railway owners and the royal family. Work at Sandringham, Windsor and Buckingham Palace earned the company a royal warrant in 1895. ‘Durability Guaranteed’ was one of the company’s claims, and this has largely proved to be true. Whether real stone or artificial, an aim of designers was to replicate the appearance of genuine rock formations with geological strata. Pulhams' was noted for this and from the 1880s they experimented with different colours and textures of cement. The structure of their designs was a core of over-burnt bricks, waste stone and slag, or other industrial waste that was locally available. Overhangs were of real slate or sandstone and the whole structure was finished with two coats of render, between 6mm and 15mm thick.

The various constructions of rockwork at Ramsgate, realised by Ramsgate Corporation from the 1890s, with the last work on Winterstoke Chine in 1936, form one of the largest groupings of their designs and provide a good cross-section of their work and the compositional possibilities offered by different locations and gradients.”

For lots more information about Pulhamite, visit LinkExternal link
by Alan Murray-Rust
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12 images use this description:

TR3864 : Pulhamite formation along Madeira Walk by Alan Murray-Rust
TR3864 : Ramsgate Harbour by Alan Murray-Rust
TR3864 : Albion Place and Gardens, Ramsgate – 1 by Alan Murray-Rust
TR3864 : Royal Parade, Ramsgate – 1 by Alan Murray-Rust
TR3864 : War Memorial, Albion Place Gardens, Ramsgate by Alan Murray-Rust
TR3864 : Royal Parade, Ramsgate – 2 by Alan Murray-Rust
TR3864 : Cascade in Albion Place Gardens, Ramsgate – 1 by Alan Murray-Rust
TR3864 : Cascade in Albion Place Gardens, Ramsgate – 2 by Alan Murray-Rust
TR3864 : Royal Parade, Ramsgate – 3 by Alan Murray-Rust
TR3864 : Royal Parade, Ramsgate by Alan Murray-Rust
TR3864 : Looking down Madeira Walk by Alan Murray-Rust
TR3864 : Albion Place and Gardens, Ramsgate – 2 by Alan Murray-Rust


These Shared Descriptions are common to multiple images. For example, you can create a generic description for an object shown in a photo, and reuse the description on all photos of the object. All descriptions are public and shared between contributors, i.e. you can reuse a description created by others, just as they can use yours.
Created: Thu, 8 Sep 2022, Updated: Thu, 8 Sep 2022

The 'Shared Description' text on this page is Copyright 2022 Alan Murray-Rust, however it is specifically licensed so that contributors can reuse it on their own images without restriction.

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