Abbots Pool Abbots Pool The word 'Leigh' comes from Old English 'Leah' being a clearing in a wooded settlement. Abbots Leigh was specifically the retreat of the Abbot of St Augustine's Abbey, Bristol, where now stands the Cathedral (Church). The actual retreat or settlement site is unknown. Abbots Pool would have been created by damming the brook. It was probably done for the Abbot as a fishpond, stocking fresh fish for the pot. During the 1930's Melville Wills landscaped the pool area. He created an Island (on stilts) and the cave. This beauty spot is now under the care of North Somerset Council Abbots Leigh Civic Society Abbotspool Newsletter No 3 April 2006 We have just received the good news that our bid for a 'Your Heritage' grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund has been successful. We have been allocated £28,500 to renovate the cave, dam, lower pool, stream and stone bridge and to run events involving the community. The majority of the work will be handled by North Somerset Council (NSC), who are the lead partners in the project. The Parish Council has generously given £500 towards the project. NSC will be getting tenders for the renovation work and anticipate the work will be carried out in late July/August when the water levels should be at their lowest. The water currently going over the cascade and down the stream will probably be diverted around this area and redirected into the stream just before the bridge. There is a large amount of silt in the lower pool and this will be re-sited to the right of the stream, but well away from the bank. This silt may look unsightly for a while but will soon be covered in vegetation. Part of the project is to increase access to this lower area for people with mobility problems. To achieve this there will be long graded steps, kept in place with logs as elsewhere in the woodland. There will also be a small stone viewing platform below the cascade. Another path has been cleared on the left hand side of the stream which will have similar graded steps. It will then be possible to have a circular walk below the cascade. The cave will be renovated and we are hoping to replace the piece of Pulhamite to the left of the entrance. This, however, may be rather difficult as no-one knows, or can work out, how Pulhamite was created! We are consulting other organisations who are responsible for features containing work done by James Pulham & Sons. As well as providing funds for the physical restoration of the area, it is a condition of the grant that the community should be involved and we have to show that this has happened. To achieve this, various events have been, or are in the process of, being planned. Saturday 6th May - meet in the Car Park at 10 am for a RSPB guided bird identification walk. There will be coffee and biscuits after. Sunday 28th May -Postponed till July - Date to be advised. Woodland Fair from 12 noon to 5 pm The fair is being supported by funds from the grant. Some volunteers will be required and rumour has it that they will receive free T shirts! It promises to be a fun day with lots of events for children so bring yours along (or your grandchildren) and encourage other people to do the same. The Car Park and the Bridle Path will be closed so either walk or cycle there if you can. The following events do not yet have a date, the June dates will be in the June Link. June - Sketching Day to provide drawings for the proposed leaflet and identification panel. June - Wildlife and Wildflower identification walk. July - Local history event. September - Bird nest box building day followed a week later by putting the boxes in suitable locations in the woods. Make one for yourself and one for Abbots Pool Woods. September - Fern planting day We are also producing a video diary which is being made by Tom Walmsley and we plan to show it at the next Abbots Leigh Civic Society AGM next January. As well as these events, we will be having the monthly Working Parties as usual. The dates are given below: Sunday 21 May 10-12 (third Sunday this month only) Sunday 11 June (second Sunday) Sunday 9 July Sunday 13 Aug Sunday 10 September Sunday 8 October We do hope that everyone will help make this project a success. A number of people have commented how much more open the woods are now. The area should look much more attractive once the work is completed. Abbots Pool Volunteer Sundays More volunteers are needed to build on the work alreadv achieved. The conservation events at Abbots Pool start at 10.30am and finish at 12.30pm - just a 2-hour commitment once a month to help preserve this beautiful location. Meet in the car park come rain or shine. Wear strong footwear and suitable clothing. Tools provided. Children under 16 years must be accompanied by an adult. These activities can be counted towards Duke of Edinburgh awards. Please lend your support. FFI contact Pip A'Ness on 375250 or N.Somerset Ranger Service on 01934 621802 Photo Slide Show Abbots Pool Woodland North Somerset Council have a page giving details of the plans for Abbots Pool and the Woodlands at www.n-somerset.gov.uk/council/have+your+say/abbots+woodland.asp The following is an extract from that site: James Pulham, Pulhamite, and Abbots Pool In the history of landscape gardening the name of James Pulham (1788-c.1838) is well known. He is the father of a dynasty that manufactured architectural ornaments out of artificial stone and laid out rock gardens utilising this artificial 'Pulhamite' to simulate natural rock strata and other geological features. Work by the firm using 'Pulhamite' has been identified at Abbots Pool by Sally Festing and described in the Journal of the Garden History Society (Spring 1984). Between 1819 and 1822 James Pulham began using stone -coloured cement to form ornamental garden vases, fountains, animal figures, busts, coats of arms, insignia for public bodies, hotel signs and chimney pots etc. at his factory in Spitalfields. When Pulham (I) died his eldest son James (II) (1820-98) took over the business that by then was a wide range of artificial stonework including floorings and wall-coatings. It was at this time that a move had been made to Hoddesden in Hertfordshire and that simulating natural materials became a prominent part of the firm's activities. James Pulham II's son, yet another James (III) (1845-?), joined the firm to make it Pulham & Son in 1865 and stopped making their own cement on the premises and used Portland cement instead. Their artificial stone, or 'terracotta ' as they had called it became known henceforth as 'Pulhamite Stone'. It was also at this time when the firm gave up making ornamental architectural work and concentrated on garden and landscape work and produced sundials, statues, fountains, balustrades, gardens seats and bridges etc tailor-made for the customer. In addition, gardens were provided with 'Pulhamite' pools, cascades, steam-courses and caves constructed in such a way as to resemble natural features. After the death of James Pulham II the firm was run by his son (III) and grandson, James Robert. Three of the third James' younger brothers joined the family business. A slump in World War One led to debts from which the business never recovered forcing it to close in 1945. Many ‘Pulhamite’ gardens have been identified in the southern half of England and these include Battersea Park (1866-70) for HM Commissioners of Works; Sandringham (1868-76) and Buckingham Palace (1895-99) for the Royal Family, St James' Park (1895-99) for the Royal Parks Bailiff and Rayne Thatch (1907-10) and Bracken Hill (c.1917-27) both for the Bristol tobacco magnate Melville Wills. Sally Festing has included Abbots Pool, another of Melville Wills estates on the outskirts of Bristol, in her list of sixteen Pulham & Son landscapes. Melville Wills bought the property in 1915 and the work at Abbots Pool was carried out sometime between that date and the demise of Pulham & Son in 1945. The landscaping carried out by the firm at the pool has yet to be closely examined but at first appearances Pulhamite has been used to construct the cascade, the boathouse-cum-cave and some of the edging of the pool and the stream below the cascade. The slabs of Pulhamite forming the cascade and boathouse have been laid in such a way to resemble the bedding of natural rock and the natural effect has been enhanced by the inclusion of slabs of natural rock. Sally Festing records that in the Markham Brook below the Abbots Pool there is 'an extended sequence of small trout pools separated by cascades' constructed from Pulhamite. References Anon. 2001. Members' Letters, Contributions. Garden History News. 63.26. Festing, S. 1984. 'Pulham has done his work well'. Garden History Society Journal. 25. 138-158. Hitching, C. 2001. Preserving Our Pulham Heritage. Garden History Society News. 62 23-24. The answer to "How Are The Mighty Fallen" in Abbotspool Car Park over the weekend 13/14th May. Here are a couple of photos of an oak tree that came down at the weekend. 4 cars involved; two people slightly hurt. Photos courtesy of Mike Crabtree

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