Silent Pool
| Silent Pool | |
|---|---|
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| Location | Surrey |
| Coordinates | 51°13′35.5″N 0°28′57.3″W / 51.226528°N 0.482583°WCoordinates: 51°13′35.5″N 0°28′57.3″W / 51.226528°N 0.482583°W |
| Primary inflows | spring |
| Basin countries | United Kingdom |
Silent Pool is a spring-fed lake at the foot of the North Downs, approximately 6.5 km (4 mi) east of Guildford in Surrey. Together with the nearby Newlands Corner it forms part of the privately owned Albury Estate SSSI managed by the Surrey Wildlife Trust.[1] The outflow from Silent Pool runs into a second lake Sherbourne Pond,[2] created in the mid-seventeenth century. In turn the outflow from the Sherbourne Pond feeds the Sherbourne Brook, a tributary of the River Tillingbourne.[3]
Silent Pool is considered by some to be a sacred site. It is linked to a folklore tale that says King John on his horse abducted a woodcutter’s daughter who was forced into the deep water and drowned. According to the legend, the maiden can be seen at midnight.
The lake was admired by the poet Alfred Tennyson.[4]
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[edit] Geology
The Silent Pool Spring is the only major spring source in the 17 km-long scarp slope of the North Downs between the Wey and Mole valleys. It discharges between 1 and 10 Ml per day into Silent Pool and the lake water exhibits a blue opalescence characteristic of chalk spring-fed ponds. In prolonged dry periods, Silent Pool has been known to become dry, although the lower Sherbourne Pond has not. The outflow from Sherbourne Pond is the Sherbourne Stream, a tributary of the River Tillingbourne.[5]
The Silent Pool lies on Lower Chalk, observable at the northern end of the pond. Sherbourne Pond lies mainly on Gault clay, while its northern end and the stream connecting the two ponds lies on Upper Greensand. Blocks of the Upper Greensand can be found in the stream bed: a pale grey siltstone which weathers to brown and is harder than the chalk.[6]
[edit] Archaeology
A survey of the Silent Pool in 2006 suggested that the southern half of Silent Pool was in fact dug out at the same time as Sherbourne Pond (1662), while the northern half is of geological origin. It appears that this natural half of the pond was made deeper and lined with clay when the southern half (lined with clay and heather) was added.[7]
[edit] Access
The pool has been a popular site to visit since Victorian times. It has a car park and a viewing platform. A walkway encircles the pool.[8] Silent Pool lies to the south of the North Downs Way near Albury.[9]
[edit] References
- ^ "Newlands Corner & Silent Pool". Our Reserves. Surrey Wildlife Trust. http://www.surreywildlifetrust.org/reserves/show/8. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
- ^ "The Silent Pool - Holy Well or Sacred Spring in England in Surrey". Photo Pages. The Megalithic Portal. 2005. http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=11250. Retrieved 23 May 2007.
- ^ Crocker, Glenys; Crocker, Alan (2000). Damnable Inventions: Chilworth Gunpowder and the Paper Mills of the Tillingbourne. Guildford: Surrey Industrial History Group. pp. 1-3. ISBN 0-9538122-0-0.
- ^ Tennyson, Hallam (2005) [1897]. Alfred Lord Tennyson: A Memoir by His Son. 2. Whitefish, MT: Kessinger Publishing. p. 594. ISBN 9780766183735.
- ^ Adams B, ed. (2008). The Chalk aquifer of the North Downs. British Geological Survey Research Report. Keyworth, Nottingham: British Geological Survey. p. 44. ISBN 978-085272571-9. http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/5800/1/RR08002.pdf. Retrieved 19 November 2011.
- ^ Albury Downs geology trail retrieved 23/5/07
- ^ Surrey Wildlife Trust
- ^ Surrey County Council
- ^ "Silent Pool near Albury". North Downs Way. National Trail. 2005. http://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/northdowns/gallery_image.asp?PageId=21&ImageId=62. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
[edit] External links
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