Bewl Water is a

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 ...

in the valley of the River Bewl, straddling the boundary between

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

and

East Sussex East Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It is about south of Lamberhurst, Kent. The reservoir was part of a project to increase the supply of water in the area. It supplies Southern Water's customers in the towns of Thanet and

Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...

. Work to construct the reservoir began in 1973 with the damming and subsequent flooding of the Bewl River valley. It was completed in 1975, having been filled with over 31,300 million litres of water, with a total project cost of £11 million. It is now the largest body of inland water in Southeast England. In winter, when the flow in the

River Medway The River Medway is a river in South East England. It rises in the High Weald AONB, High Weald, West Sussex and flows through Tonbridge, Maidstone and the Medway conurbation in Kent, before emptying into the Thames Estuary near Sheerness, a to ...

exceeds 275 million litres per day, river water is pumped to the reservoir for storage. There is an outlined plan to raise the water level by a further three metres with intentions of increasing the yield by up to 30% to help with the growing water demand in Southeast England. This will, however, put further demands on the River Medway to supply the additional water required, with the potential for

environmental degradation Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, referring respectively to all living and non-living things occurring naturally and the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism ...

in the river and the ecosystems that it supports.

Leisure use

Bewl Water Outdoor Centre hosts a variety of outdoor activities on and around the reservoir. These include sailing, windsurfing, rowing, sculling, canoeing, kayaking, trout & predator fishing, and paddleboarding. A floating obstacle course is also available on the reservoir. Away from the water, numerous walking and cycling routes surround the 12½-mile Round Reservoir Route.

References

External links

Bewl Canoe Club

Bewl Sailing Association

Bewl Bridge Rowing Club

Bewl Water Reservoir water level
{{authority control Tourist attractions in Kent Drinking water reservoirs in England Buildings and structures in the Borough of Tunbridge Wells Parks and open spaces in Kent Country parks in Kent Sport in Royal Tunbridge Wells Reservoirs in Kent Ticehurst