Swithland Reservoir

Swithland Reservoir

View from the causeway at the southern end, with Brazil Island in the centre and the railway viaduct to the right.
Location Leicestershire
Coordinates 52°43′20″N 1°10′25″W / 52.72222°N 1.17361°W / 52.72222; -1.17361Coordinates: 52°43′20″N 1°10′25″W / 52.72222°N 1.17361°W / 52.72222; -1.17361
Type Reservoir
Primary inflows Lingdale Brook, Swithland Brook, Hallgates Brook, Bradgate Brook
Primary outflows Buddon Brook
Basin countries United Kingdom
Water volume 600 million gallons
Settlements Swithland
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Swithland Reservoir is a reservoir in the English county of Leicestershire. It is north-east of the village of Swithland from which it takes its name, north-west of Rothley and approximately 133 metres south-west of Mountsorrel Quarry.

History

Leicester's rapidly growing population in the latter half of the 19th century required the construction of a series of reservoirs. In 1854 Thornton Reservoir was opened, serving a population of 61,000.[1] By 1861 the population had increased, with the Waterworks Company now directly supplying 24,000 people, and five years later the company was supplying between 60 and 70,000 people and work began on Bradgate Reservoir (now known as Cropston Reservoir).[1] By 1878 the "water population" had increased to 110,000 and by 1893 to 203,000, requiring further reservoirs to be constructed.[1]

In 1890 Leicester City Council sought Parliamentary authority to acquire the land required to construct Swithland reservoir, which would be supplied from Lingdale Brook, Swithland Brook, Hallgates Brook, and Bradgate Brook, and construction commenced in 1894, with completion in 1896;[1][2] The works including the holding reservoir and new pumping engines together with the engine and boiler houses at the Cropston station, were designed by John Breedon Everard of Pick Everard.[3] The reservoir opened on 10 September in that year.[4][5][6] The reservoir was constructed by Messrs. John Aird & Sons of London, who submitted a successful £133,511 tender and had a temporary railway extension built from Mountsorrel to assist with transportation of construction materials; This was extended to Hallgates in Cropston, where an additional storage reservoir was constructed, making the length nine miles in total.[1][7]

Site and location

The site of the reservoir was a wooded valley between six villages. Four of them have parts of their parish covered by it, namely Swithland, Rothley, Woodhouse and Quorn, the other two being Mountsorrel and Woodhouse Eaves.[8] The stream through the valley, which feeds the reservoir, is called Bradgate Brook at the point where it now meets the reservoir. At its outflow it is known as Buddon Brook, and flows north and then west for 2 km (1.4 mi) before joining the River Soar.[9] At its upper reaches, in the hills of Ulverscroft it flows south-east and is called Ulverscroft Brook. At Newtown Linford, where it is known as the River Lin, it turns to the north-east and flows through Bradgate Park and into Cropston Reservoir, after which, as Bradgate Brook it reaches the southern end of Swithland Reservoir. A second stream, known as Swithland Brook, joins the west side of the reservoir having risen beyond Swithland Wood, through which it flows, and continues eastward through Swithland village.[10]

The road from Swithland was diverted due to the reservoir's construction and a bridge constructed at the South end.[7] Construction of the reservoir necessitated the removal of 5,800 trees and nine miles of hedgerow.[11] The dam is at the north end and is crossed by Kinchley Lane. An island known as Brazil Island (the part of Brazil Wood left above water level after flooding) is located south of the centre of the reservoir, with a weir on either side. Brazil Island was the site of a game preserve until it was destroyed by fire in 1938.[12]

Steam trains

At the same time as the reservoir was being built, the last of the great mainline railways was being driven through the area, to create the Great Central Railway. This passed over the reservoir on two viaducts and the northern side of Brazil Island. The line opened in 1899 and was closed down in the Beeching cuts of the 1960s, but almost immediately a campaign began to re-open the north Leicestershire section, resulting in a return to trains running between Leicester and Loughborough. The viaduct section has a reinstated dual track, and with the completion of the Swithland Sidings signal box in 2012 steam trains have been able make full use of the dual track across the reservoir, and also integrate the Mountsorrel branch line.[13]

Water provision

The draw-off tower, alongside the dam

The dam is 404 yards long and is 26 feet wide at the top and 48 feet wide at the base; It was constructed of concrete and water-clay.[1] A draw-off tower, alongside the dam wall abstracts water for the six filter beds behind the dam wall, which have a total area of 75,000 square feet, surrounding a clear water tank.[7] Water is pumped from the storage tank to the 2 million gallon capacity Hallgates reservoir, and from there it travels through a water main to the lower reservoir at Oadby via gravitation.[11] Several of the buildings at Swithland Reservoir are listed, with much of the pumping station site Grade II listed.[14]

The capacity was initially stated at 600 million gallons (100 million gallons more than was originally envisaged), and was thought sufficient to serve a population of 300,000.[1][6] Early operation of the reservoir was not without difficulties; While it had been envisaged that it would be sufficient to serve Leicester for 20 years, by 1898 further supply capacity from Derbyshire was needed, and the reservoir was considered by some to have been a failure.[15][16][17] In 1909 supply to Leicester was temporarily halted due to "vegetable growth" caused by warm weather.[18]

SSSI

The reservoir is part of the Buddon Wood and Swithland Reservoir SSSI, giving legal protection on both biological and geological grounds. The Mountsorrel granite of Buddon Wood has been such a valuable commodity commercially that it has taken precedence over the wildlife interest of the wood. It is also enigmatic, geologically, both as to its age and the way it formed. As the SSSI citation puts it, if its mysteries could be solved, it 'would provide a key to unravelling the deep crustal structure of Southern Britain about which so little is known at the moment'.[19] The quarry is owned and operated by Tarmac, and a major part of the output is crushed stone for use either as coated stone (eg in roads) or within concrete. Quarrying began in the 1970s and by 2016 the excavated area covered 167 acres (68 ha) which, at its deepest was 120 metres (390 ft) below sea level, and some 210 metres (690 ft) below the rim.[20]

Biologically, the whole site is unequivocal. It is (or at least was, before quarrying began) the richest site in Leicestershire for species diversity.[21] Over 200 species of vascular plants, a third of all recorded British spiders, 20 different butterfly species and 200 moth species have all been recorded within the SSSI area.[19] The ancient woodland of Buddon Wood and the pre-reservoir habitats had developed over thousands of years. But with the arrival of the reservoir, numerous new habitats were introduced which have been exploited by wetland plants and above all by birds. 218 different species of wild birds were recorded on and around the reservoir between 1940 and 2000, of which 92 were known to breed there.[22] The open water is a particularly important roosting and feeding area for large number of waterbirds in winter,[19] and as a stopping off point for migrant species passing through.[22]

Notable tragedies

Local woman May Cook drowned in the reservoir in 1924 after apparently fainting while bathing her head.[23] The body of 19-year-old Ethel Oxford was recovered from the reservoir in April 1925.[24] In 1926 the reservoir was the scene of the suicide of local man Albert Edwin Pepper, who drowned himself by entering the water with a stone weighing 40-60 lbs tied to his waist.[25]

Viaducts

Two viaducts were constructed over the reservoir as part of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway's London Extension, crossing via Brazil Island.[26] Today this forms part of the route of the preserved Great Central Railway. To the south of the viaduct is Swithland Sidings.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "The Swithland Reservoir: Meeting of the Town Council". Leicester Chronicle. British Newspaper Archive. 14 April 1894. Retrieved 29 June 2014. (subscription required (help)).
  2. ↑ "Local and District News". Leicester Chronicle. British Newspaper Archive. 14 December 1889. Retrieved 29 June 2014. (subscription required (help)).
  3. ↑ Memoranda on the life of John Breedon Everard in the possession of his great grandson Richard Anthony Everard
  4. ↑ "The New Swithland Reservoir: Turning the "First Sod"". Leicester Chronicle. British Newspaper Archive. 7 July 1894. Retrieved 29 June 2014. (subscription required (help)).
  5. ↑ "Charnwood Ward". Leicester Chronicle. British Newspaper Archive. 20 October 1894. Retrieved 29 June 2014. (subscription required (help)).
  6. 1 2 "Opening of New Waterworks for Leicester". Derby Daily Telegraph. British Newspaper Archive. 10 September 1896. Retrieved 20 June 2014. (subscription required (help)).
  7. 1 2 3 "The Leicester Waterworks Extension: The New Reservoirs at Swithland and Hallgates". Leicester Chronicle. British Newspaper Archive. 7 September 1895. Retrieved 29 June 2014. (subscription required (help)).
  8. ↑ Gamble, Ian (2001). The Birdlife of Swithland Reservoir. Kairos Press. p. 43. ISBN 9781871344271.
  9. ↑ Gamble 2001, p. 47.
  10. ↑ Gamble 2001, p. 43.
  11. 1 2 "The New Waterworks at Swithland: Formal Opening by the Mayoress". Leicester Chronicle. British Newspaper Archive. 12 September 1896. Retrieved 29 June 2014. (subscription required (help)).
  12. ↑ "News item". Portsmouth Evening News. British Newspaper Archive. 5 May 1938. Retrieved 29 June 2014. (subscription required (help)).
  13. ↑ Great Central Railway (2012-05-30). "Signal Box – Swithland Sidings; The UK's Only Main Line Heritage Railway". Gcrailway.co.uk. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  14. ↑ "Listed Buildings: Swithland Reservoir", Charnwood Borough Council. Retrieved 29 June 2014
  15. ↑ "Charnwood Ward". Leicester Chronicle. British Newspaper Archive. 29 October 1898. Retrieved 29 June 2014. (subscription required (help)).
  16. ↑ "Councillor Hancock on the Government of Leicester". Leicester Chronicle. British Newspaper Archive. 4 March 1899. Retrieved 29 June 2014. (subscription required (help)).
  17. ↑ "Leicester Water Supply". Nottingham Evening Post. British Newspaper Archive. 10 August 1909. Retrieved 29 June 2014. (subscription required (help)).
  18. ↑ "Leicester Water Scare". Nottingham Evening Post. British Newspaper Archive. 21 July 1909. Retrieved 29 June 2014. (subscription required (help)).
  19. 1 2 3 Natural England SSSI Citation for site 1003516, notified 1956, last revision 1981
  20. ↑ Tarmac.com - About Mountsorrel Quarry Accessed 2 December 2016
  21. ↑ Squires, Anthony; Jeeves, Michael (1994). Leicestershire and Rutland Woodlands Past and Present. Kairos Press. p. 113. ISBN 9781871344035.
  22. 1 2 Gamble 2001, p. 8.
  23. ↑ "Girl Clerk's Fate: Fainted While Bathing Head in Reservoir". Nottingham Evening Post. British Newspaper Archive. 17 July 1924. Retrieved 29 June 2014. (subscription required (help)).
  24. ↑ "Local Happenings". Nottingham Evening Post. British Newspaper Archive. 15 April 1925. Retrieved 29 June 2014. (subscription required (help)).
  25. ↑ "Widow's Tribute to "Kindest Husband"". Nottingham Evening Post. British Newspaper Archive. 8 June 1926. Retrieved 29 June 2014. (subscription required (help)).
  26. ↑ "The M. S. and L. Line to London". Nottingham Evening Post. British Newspaper Archive. 22 December 1894. Retrieved 29 June 2014. (subscription required (help)).

External links

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