page_title: Derwent Reservoir (Derbyshire)
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Derwent Reservoir (Derbyshire) / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Derwent Dam overflow on 11th July 2007
context_page_description: Derwent Reservoir is the middle of three reservoirs in the Upper Derwent Valley in the northeast of Derbyshire, England. It lies approximately 10 miles from Glossop and 10 miles from Sheffield. The River Derwent flows first through Howden Reservoir, then Derwent Reservoir and finally through Ladybower Reservoir. Between them they provide practically all of Derbyshire's water, as well as to a large part of South Yorkshire and as far afield as Nottingham and Leicester.
  Derwent Reservoir is around 1.5 miles in length, running broadly north–south, with Howden Dam at the northern end and Derwent Dam at the south. A small island lies near the Howden Dam. The Abbey Brook flows into the reservoir from the east.
  At its full capacity the reservoir covers an area of 70.8 hectares and at its deepest point is 34.7 metres deep.
context_section_description: The Industrial Revolution and urbanisation of the 19th century created huge demand for water in the industrial cities of the East Midlands and South Yorkshire. The proximity of Sheffield and its neighbours to the Upper Derwent valley were thus factors in the decision to dam the valley to create the Howden and Derwent reservoirs.
  Construction of the neo-Gothic solid masonry dam began in 1902, a year after the building of Howden commenced, and proved a mammoth task. The chief engineer was Edward Sandeman. He was also in charge of building nearby Howden dam and he was awarded the Telford Medal in 1918 for his work ‘Derwent Valley Waterworks’. The huge stones that formed the walls of the dam were carried along a specially created railway from the quarries at Bole Hill near Grindleford. Over 1,000 workers lived in a specially constructed self-contained town called Birchinlee or "Tin Town". One of the metal huts was preserved and moved to the village of Hope, where it is now a hairdressing salon. The workers who died during the building of the dam were buried in Bamford Church.
  The filling of the reservoir began in November 1914, and overflowed for the first time in January 1916, with the water almost immediately passing into supply. The dam can support a total of 9.64 million cubic metres of water.
  Only two years after the dam's completion in 1916, it was decided that the flow from the reservoir was insufficient to support the surrounding population. As a result, between 1920 and 1931 the rivers Alport and Ashop were also diverted from the Ashop valley into the reservoir using tunnels and a Venturi flume.
  The diversion helped hold back water during the construction of the Ladybower Reservoir to the south, which was constructed between 1935 and 1945.
caption: Derwent Dam in full flow (11 July 2007)
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