Nature Pond with Slate Monolith Water Feature — Nottinghamshire

The Brief:

This project in Nottinghamshire combined a naturalistic wildlife pond with a striking slate monolith water feature as a centrepiece. The customer wanted a pond that felt wild and organic, but with a distinctive architectural element — the upright slate monolith — to give the overall design a bold, contemporary focal point.

What We Did:

The pond was excavated and shaped with a naturalistic profile — varying depths, gentle slopes and planting shelves for marginal planting. A rubber liner was installed with underlay across the full pond area. The slate monolith — a tall, single piece of natural standing slate — was carefully set and secured at the pond edge, connected to a concealed recirculating pump below.

Water is drawn from the pond, pumped up through the monolith and released to flow down the face of the slate in a thin, even sheet before returning to the pond. The surrounding area was finished with natural stone edging, decorative gravel and marginal planting to complete the naturalistic design. The pump flow was adjusted until the water sheet over the monolith achieved exactly the right visual effect.

The Result:

The slate monolith is a genuinely striking feature — the combination of the natural, still pond and the sheet of water flowing down the stone face creates a compelling contrast. The design photographs beautifully in all seasons and the customer could not be happier with the result.