The Howden Reservoir is a Y-shaped
reservoir
A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation.
Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...
, the uppermost of the three in the
Upper Derwent Valley, England. The western half of the reservoir lies in
Derbyshire
Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...
and the eastern half is in
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...
,
South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the north, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north-east, Lincolnshire ...
; the county border runs through the middle of the reservoir, following the original path of the
River Derwent. The longest arm is around in length. The reservoir is bounded at the southern end by Howden Dam; below this, the Derwent flows immediately into
Derwent Reservoir and subsequently the
Ladybower Reservoir. Other tributaries include the
River Westend,
Howden Clough and
Linch Clough.
Work commenced on the dam's construction on 16 July 1901 and completed in July 1912. The chief engineer was Edward Sandeman. He was also in charge of building nearby Derwent dam and was awarded the
Telford Medal in 1918 for his work "Derwent Valley Waterworks". The works involved constructing a temporary village at
Birchinlee, or "Tin Town", for the workers, a temporary railway line from the main line at
Bamford, construction of a link aqueduct to the Derwent Dam. The dam is of solid masonry construction, and tall, long, and impounds of water, from a catchment area of . The workers who died during the construction of the dam were buried in
St John the Baptist's Church, Bamford.
To the east of the reservoir stands Featherbed Moss, one of the highest tops in the area at , and one of several tops of that name in the area. This is not to be confused with the more well-known
Featherbed Moss on the
Pennine Way
The Pennine Way is a National Trail in England, with a small section in Scotland. The trail stretches for from Edale, in the northern Derbyshire Peak District, north through the Yorkshire Dales and Northumberland National Park and ends at Kir ...
between
Kinder Scout
Kinder Scout is a moorland plateau and National nature reserve (United Kingdom), National Nature Reserve in the Dark Peak of the Derbyshire Peak District in England. Part of the moor, at above sea level, is the highest point in the Peak Distric ...
and
Bleaklow.
Reservoirs of the Peak District
Dams completed in 1912
Reservoirs in Derbyshire
1912 establishments in England
RHowden
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