Natural swimming pools in Norwich.

Our base is in Bury St Edmunds, about 41 miles from Norwich by road via Thetford and the A11, which is a little over an hour's drive. Wroxham, on the Broads edge, is about 51 miles. We plan site visits and the build programme around the journey from the start.

The choice comes down to the swimming you have in mind and the room you can give to planting. Natural pools have a defined swimming area and a separate zone of planting. Swimming ponds are softer, with planting around the edges. Living pools keep their biological filter away from the swimming water, which suits a more architectural garden. Wildlife ponds are for planting and habitat only, without a swimming area.

Our published guide prices start from £45,000 for a swimming pond and from £80,000 for a natural pool or a living pool. Wildlife ponds start from £12,000. All prices exclude VAT. Your quotation follows from the design and what we find on site, and budget can be discussed at the free design consultation.

Norwich City Council handles the city. Most surrounding villages come under Broadland or South Norfolk, whose councils work as one team, and North Norfolk District Council covers Hoveton. Inside the Broads, which has a status equivalent to a National Park, planning decisions rest with the Broads Authority. Permitted development there limits pools and buildings more than 20 metres from the house to 10 square metres in total. Nutrient neutrality advice covers the Wensum and Broads catchments, so ask the case officer early whether it affects your pool.

It can. The Wensum and Yare valleys hold layers of peat and alluvial silt, which can subside and heave. The main area at risk of river flooding is in the Wensum valley, covering parts of central Norwich, and both rivers are tidal as far as New Mills and Trowse. Digging within 16 metres of a main river needs Environment Agency permission unless it is exempt. We assess the ground in your garden before recommending a design.

Yes. Before you commit to a build, we prepare a design visualisation showing the pool in your garden. Red brick is the most common building material in Norwich, and flint and pantiles feature in villages to the north and in the Broads, so it is worth judging paving and planting against your own walls. The layout can still change at this point.

Possibly. We look at each chlorine pool case by case, beginning with its construction and condition, then whether there is room for biological filtration. Photographs of the pool and its pump and filter give us an early view on whether conversion is worth pursuing. If more digging is needed, we check the ground and planning position as we would for a new pool.

Yes. We offer maintenance and aftercare support after the build, with servicing visits in spring and autumn for the pump and air system. Planting is cut back each autumn. Visits are scheduled with the journey from Bury St Edmunds in mind, and we talk you through the care needed between them.

We prefer rainwater for filling and topping up. Anglian Water, which supplies the area, adds phosphate to mains water, and phosphate feeds algae. Met Office data for 1991 to 2020 gives East Anglia an average of 627 mm of rain a year, against 1,163 mm for the UK, and hosepipe restrictions in dry summers can stop a pool being filled from the mains. At that average, about 63 cubic metres of rain falls on 100 square metres of roof each year.

There is no charge for the design consultation and no obligation to proceed. It helps to have your postcode, some garden photographs, rough measurements and a budget range ready. If the house is in the Broads or close to a river, tell us early, as that shapes the first planning and ground questions.