Silent Pool facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Silent Pool
Silent Pool Location in Surrey
Location	Surrey
Coordinates	51°13′35.5″N 0°28′57.3″W / 51.226528°N 0.482583°W / 51.226528; -0.482583
Primary inflows	spring
Primary outflows	Sherbourne Brook
Basin countries	United Kingdom

Silent Pool is a beautiful lake in Surrey, England. It's fed by natural springs, meaning water comes up from underground. You can find it near Guildford, at the bottom of the North Downs hills. The Surrey Wildlife Trust helps look after it.

Water from Silent Pool flows into another lake called Sherbourne Pond. This second pond was made a long time ago, in the mid-1600s. From Sherbourne Pond, the water then goes into Sherbourne Brook. This brook is a small river that joins the River Tillingbourne.

Why Silent Pool Looks Blue

Silent Pool gets its water from a special underground spring. This spring is the only big one along a 10.5-mile stretch of the North Downs. It sends a lot of water into the pool every day.

The water in Silent Pool often looks blue. This is because it comes from chalk springs. The chalk gives the water a unique, milky blue color. Sometimes, if there hasn't been much rain, Silent Pool can dry up. But the lower Sherbourne Pond usually still has water.

Scientists think that the southern part of Silent Pool was dug out in 1662. This was at the same time Sherbourne Pond was created. The northern part of Silent Pool is natural. It seems this natural part was made deeper and lined with clay.

Visiting Silent Pool

An old sketch of Silent Pool from 1888 by artist Lewis Pinhorn Wood.

Silent Pool has been a popular place to visit for a very long time. People have enjoyed coming here since the Victorian era.

There's a car park right off the A25 road if you want to drive. From there, a path leads to a special viewing platform. You can also walk all the way around the pool on a walkway. If you enjoy hiking, you can reach Silent Pool from the North Downs Way trail.

Fighting Invasive Weeds

In recent years, Silent Pool had a problem with an unwanted plant. It was an invasive weed called Crassula helmsii. People think someone might have dumped an old fish tank into the pool. This weed can grow very fast.

If the weed had kept growing, it would have covered Silent Pool and Sherbourne Pond. It would have turned them into a green, spongy mess. This would have harmed all the plants and animals living there. Luckily, a lot of work has been done to remove the weed. This has helped restore the water to its natural state.

Silent Pool Distillery

Since 2014, water from Silent Pool has been used for something special. It helps make gin! There's a distillery right next to the pool.

The people at Silent Pool Distillers use a restored, old-fashioned steam boiler. This boiler powers a special copper machine called a still. This still was made just for them in Germany.