Silverlake’s New Firefly Spa Takes This Eco-Estate To The Next Level

When businessman Jeremy Paxton first flew over Warmwell Quarry in Dorset, he had a vision. He wanted to bring the derelict sand and gravel quarry back to life, creating a landscape of lakes, woodlands and heathland alongside luxury holiday homes. 

Sadly Jeremy died in 2013, aged just 53, and did not see his dream for his Silverlake Estate come to fruition. His children – Red, Ruby and Rory – wanted to honour his legacy and ran with his vision. Today, Silverlake is a thriving eco-community with 160 beautiful properties sprinkled across a landscape occupied by hares, Sika deer and dormice.

The estate, about seven miles from the Jurassic coast and near Chesil Beach, Durdle Door and Dorchester, has just opened its Firefly spa and restaurant. Accessible both to home-owners and members of the public, you can visit for the day or stay a few nights on site like I did.

Inside Silverlake’s New Firefly Spa And Restaurant

Firefly really stands out architecturally, with its striking 25-metre heated outdoor pool, sauna and cold plunge, and four treatment pods. I decided to brave the lake complete with a very fetching neon tow float – and once in, it was incredible. I happily swam in the clear water – the reeds act as a natural filtration system – for about 15 minutes, joined by a grebe. It certainly got my circulation going as I next followed the circuit of sauna, cold plunge and swim three times without flinching.

Firefly’s four treatment rooms are cosy standalone lakeside pods. Treatments start from £55 for 30 minutes, and before you arrive you are prompted to fill in a questionnaire covering what music you’d like to accompany the treatment and your preferred chattiness level with the therapist –  a lovely touch that makes the experience feel bespoke and unrushed. I plumped for a sublime facial and massage and the products just sank in. Afterwards, it was time to relax in the yurt next door with a cup of herbal tea.

The spa is adjacent to the newly-opened restaurant, led by Chef Patron Paul Clarke, who champions seasonal and locally sourced products. He is a real find and is really making his mark in the area. His menus are outstanding, spanning Portland crab crumpet to Lyme Bay scallops. My veggie choices of maple charred Hispi cabbage and salt baked beetroot with goat’s curd were out of this world. Starters are from £7 and £21 for mains.

Drinks guru Jas is a total star, too; her enthusiasm for flavours and blends is infectious. She will happily whip up a bespoke drink on demand, and her hot honey margarita is worth making the trip for.

About half of the homes on site like The Greenhouse, the one I was in, are rented out by owners; the others are purely second homes. Arranged into five villages, with a sixth under construction, when the whole 650-acre estate is complete, there will be about 400 in total. But it is all being done at a very slow and considered pace. You can cycle and walk between them, and spot houses that are sympathetically designed and not identikit (each homeowner can tweak their designs with the help of an architect.) There are also plans for self-contained hotel pods overlooking the lake and a glass-fronted gym is coming next year.

‘What is important is to keep the balance with nature,’ Red Paxton tells us, now CEO of Habitat First Group, the business bringing his father’s vision to life. Red is passionate about the land and even though it is privately owned, the estate is a big part of the community, both as employers and working with local food producers, construction teams and environmentalists. The regeneration has been recognised by Natural England as having best practice in brownfield restoration and ecological enhancement. That was plain to see from the windows of my very tastefully designed five-bedroom, three-bathroom holiday home. Right on a lake with its own pontoon, The Greenhouse has a fully equipped kitchen, wood burning stove, yoga mats, separate TV room and very comfy beds.

From the lounge, I could see swans and grebes swimming and Canadian geese flying in a V-formation overhead. It was nature reflecting history, as this area was formerly the site of RAF Warmwell, which played a key defensive role during the Battle of Britain, and all the villages are named after former servicemen and women. Sitting outside with a coffee, I spotted people paddleboarding past, while kayaking and fishing are also on offer. There’s a great zipwire in the woodland for kids, big and small. And when guests book a holiday through the official booking partner Habitat Escapes, they can choose to add a £3 donation. That helps fund planting of trees, mangroves and sea kelp through Play It Green, with 10 percent given back to Dorset & Cotswolds Wildlife Support.

We also joined a walk with the estate’s own ecologist James Ponting, which revealed how Silverlake really is teeming with life. We spotted a clouded yellow butterfly and James shared stories of birds and animals they have sighted. He carries a bag of show-and-tell goodies, which include an adder’s skeleton and a grass snake’s skin, vole skulls and owl pellets. From the latter, they can analyse what the owls have eaten and assess what rodents are in the area. There’s everything from Nightjars to Peregrine Falcons, owls to voles, otters to moot swans and 11 species of bats. James, who also works at Silverlake’s sister estate (Lower Mill in the Cotswolds) has also spotted a rare hoopoe bird, the protected silver-studded blue butterfly, plus a rare scarlet darter dragonfly.

It’s something Red is thrilled about. ‘The pumping heart here is its ecology,’ he says. Their dad would be so proud.

BOOK IT

Holiday prices at Silverlake start from £579 for a two night stay in a two-bedroom property.

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