Sauna founded in friendship

Saunas are booming across the UK, and one garden on the Surrey-Hampshire border shows why. Ella Foote meets the friends who turned a knee-deep pond into a natural swimming pool, a woodland sauna and a growing community

Stirred by a global pandemic, a boom in outdoor swimming and a hunger for connection and wellness, sauna culture has taken off across the UK. According to the British Sauna Society, public and wild saunas have grown from just 45 in 2023 to over 600 today. Brushwood Sauna, on the Surrey- Hampshire border, is one of them.

“I never knew public saunas existed,” says Brushwood Sauna founder Harry Horsley. “A few years ago, we went to visit some friends in Crosshaven, Ireland and they took us to a barrel sauna on the beach. They told us how they got together once a week to sauna with mates and then swim in the sea, we joined them while we stayed and thought, we should do this at home!”

Home for Harry is near Borden, Hampshire. He lives with his four children and his wife, Charlotte Tetley a professional Mezzo- Soprano. Their home, Brushwood, isn’t far from popular outdoor swimming spot, Frensham Pond and so an initial idea was to set up a sauna adjacent to the water at Frensham. “We looked into the possibility, but it was complicated as it is a National Trust site,” says Harry. “But then while visiting some other friends we discovered they had a natural swimming pond, again, something I had never heard of, and we wondered if it was something we could develop at our home. We had a pond, it was only about knee deep with fish in it, but it was a nice feature in our garden and so we thought we could turn it into a natural swimming pool.”

Brushwood Sauna began with small ideas from Harry’s network of friends and community is still at the heart of its success today. Work started on the pond with support and help from further friends and a local builder, by May 2025 they had a natural swimming pool. “We built it from scratch with our builder, Yakov, who worked out all the retaining walls and then with a natural swimming pool specialist, Neil Ellis, who knows about ecosystems and pumps,” says Harry. “Neil is incredibly passionate and knowledgeable about water life. He told us that when all the other kids at school were playing football he just wanted to hang around ponds playing with the newts and frogs.”

After the pool was in place, the sauna was built, by November it was fully operational. The site sits adjacent to Harry and Charlotte’s home on their nine-acre land. The area has been designed with privacy in mind, but with the natural experience at its heart. “Many of our visitors don’t even notice the house,” says Harry. “People come here and feel like they are in a woodland and in winter, with the lighting it is so magical and peaceful. There is very little disruption to our homelife and it so wonderful to be able to share space with other people, who really enjoy coming here. Charlotte and I love to pop down and meet guests, it is so wonderful being surrounded by happy people who visit.”

Passion and friendship are what often fuels outdoor swimming communities, so there is a lot of parallels with the sauna community that Harry and his team have built at Brushwood. School friend and General Manager Alex Perkins looks after the site and operational elements, but the community are contributing to its growth. “Our team here are made up of the clients that first came here,” says Alex. “Our hosts are people that came to sauna and then stayed on to be a part of it. We now have around 1,500 people signed up with lots of regulars but still lots of newbies each week.” As well as swimming and sauna there are outdoor showers, changing rooms, toilet and a warming shepherds hut where people can gather for a hot drink and chat before and after. They also offer lunch and food packages, including their newest offer – Swim, Sauna & Sushi on Thursday evenings. “I always feel really hungry after a swim and sauna session,” says Harry. “So, we started the food offering quite soon after we were established. In winter we offer soup and summer its salads and quiches, all locally sourced and homemade. We work with local suppliers, like Little Fish Sushi in the Sticks, for our Thursday sessions.”

It’s been almost a year since opening and the community is continuing to grow and team offering more and more. “A lot of local practitioners have reached out to work with us, and we have loved supporting and hosting their work,” says Harry. “Part of what we are doing is working with locals and connecting communities as well as building one.” Alex agrees, “There is a something here for everyone, whether you want to swim, sauna or find another connection. We recently hosted a Slow Sunday with a four-hour experience that included meditation, sauna and swimming. We have had yoga classes and sound baths; it is really special to see how people come together in this way.”

To find out more and book Brushwood Sauna visit brushwoodsauna.co.uk