page_title: Walthamstow Wetlands
section_title: Walthamstow Reservoirs
hierarchical_section_title: Walthamstow Wetlands / Walthamstow Reservoirs
caption_attribution_description: Island in Walthamstow Reservoirs, inhabited by nesting cormorants
context_page_description: Walthamstow Wetlands is a 211 ha nature reserve in Walthamstow, east London. It is focussed on the Walthamstow Reservoirs, built by the East London Waterworks Company between 1853 and 1904 as part of the Lee Valley Reservoir Chain. The site is one of the largest urban wetland nature reserves in Europe, and is particularly important for wildlife due to its position within the Lee Valley; a byway for migrating, wintering and breeding birds. Visitors can freely access the site's natural, industrial and social heritage in one of the capital's most densely populated urban areas.
  The reservoirs, under the ownership of Thames Water, also form part of a larger Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation, noted for the mixture of aquatic and terrestrial habitats on site, and for their London-wide importance.
context_section_description: The Walthamstow Reservoirs complex is a mix of statutory (raised) reservoirs and non-statutory (in ground) reservoirs, owned and managed by Thames Water in order to supply drinking water to London.
  The complex comprises ten water bodies:
  Lockwood Reservoir
  High Maynard Reservoir
  Low Maynard Reservoir
  East Warwick Reservoir
  West Warwick Reservoir
  Reservoirs 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5
caption: Cormorant Island
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