Natural swimming pools in Cambridge.

Yes. Our base is in Bury St Edmunds, about 29 miles from central Cambridge along the A14 past Newmarket. Our design and build service for natural pools and ponds covers gardens in the city and in the villages of South Cambridgeshire, and every project starts with a free design consultation.

It depends on garden size and how you plan to swim. A swimming pond has planted margins and a softer outline. A natural pool keeps the swimming area and planted zone separate, and a living pool has a more architectural look. Wildlife ponds are for habitat and not for swimming. Photographs and rough dimensions help us suggest a starting point.

Guide prices start at £45,000 for a swimming pond and £80,000 for a natural pool or a living pool. A wildlife pond, which is not meant for swimming, starts at £12,000. All four figures exclude VAT. Your quotation then depends on size, access and finishes, as well as ground conditions such as clay or groundwater.

Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council share one planning service, Greater Cambridge Shared Planning. Check early whether your house is listed, sits in a conservation area or lies in the Green Belt outside a village inset. The city has 18 conservation areas and South Cambridgeshire has 85. In these, a pool at the side of a house needs planning permission.

We investigate both early. Gault Clay usually shrinks and swells in the top 1.5 to 2 metres, and tree roots affect how deep it moves. Parts of Cambridge near the Cam lie in Flood Zones 2 and 3, which the Environment Agency's Flood Map for Planning shows. Work within 8 metres of a main river may need an Environment Agency permit.

Yes. A design visualisation shows the pool as it would appear in your garden, before any work is agreed. It lets you judge the pool beside the house, whether that is gault brick that has weathered to grey or yellow Cambridge stock, and refine the design from there.

Possibly. Each chlorine pool is assessed case by case, starting with its structure, its filtration and whether there is room for a planted regeneration zone. Photographs and a note of the current pump and filter help us say whether a move to biological filtration is realistic.

Yes. After the build we provide maintenance and aftercare support, with servicing visits in spring and autumn that cover the pump and air system. The planting is cut back each autumn. From the start we set out the routine care, so you know what the pool needs through the year.

Hosepipe restrictions in dry summers can stop a pool being filled from the mains. We plan for rainwater, which also avoids the algae-feeding phosphate often added to mains water. East Anglia averages 627 mm of rain a year against 1,163 mm for the UK, and the Environment Agency classes Cambridge Water's area as seriously water stressed.

Your postcode, photographs of the garden, approximate measurements and a budget are all useful. Tell us if the house is listed or in a conservation area, or if the garden is close to the Cam. The consultation itself is free and carries no obligation, and choosing a pool type can come later.