Edgbaston Pool is a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

located in

Edgbaston Edgbaston () is a suburb of Birmingham, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It lies immediately south-west of Birmingham city centre, and was historically in Warwickshire. The Ward (electoral subdivision), wards of Edgbaston and Nort ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

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 one of 23 SSSI's in the West Midlands. The site has two distinct units (areas) within it. The first is water-related and contains the lake and the input channel of the Chad Brook as well as some land that is either

marsh In ecology, a marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous plants rather than by woody plants.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p More in genera ...

or lake depending on the season. The second, the smaller section is

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...

. In total the site measures . Also known as Edgbaston Park, the site is based on

glacial A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is usually defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural ...

s and

gravel Gravel () is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally on Earth as a result of sedimentation, sedimentary and erosion, erosive geological processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone. Gr ...

s overlying sandstone from the

Late Triassic The Late Triassic is the third and final epoch (geology), epoch of the Triassic geologic time scale, Period in the geologic time scale, spanning the time between annum, Ma and Ma (million years ago). It is preceded by the Middle Triassic Epoch a ...

period. Maps from the 18th century show there used to be two ponds on the site but one has now been naturally filled in and overgrown. On the south side of the main pool, completed in 1790 and whose capacity is , is an earthfill

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...

holding the water in and a small

weir A weir or low-head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the water level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...

.Environment Agency public register of Large Raised Reservoirs, as at 2 November 2020, via The site is adjacent to

Winterbourne Botanic Garden Winterbourne Botanic Garden is a heritage site and botanic garden in Edgbaston, Birmingham, England. It is owned by the University of Birmingham. The house was built as a family home for the Nettlefold family in 1904. The garden is a rare surv ...

and Edgbaston Golf Course and close to the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

. Access can be gained when visiting Winterbourne Botanic Garden - admission charges apply. The pool's bird life has been recorded since at least the 1860s and has included

hooded crow The hooded crow (''Corvus cornix''), also colloquially called just hoodie, is a Eurasian bird species in the genus '' Corvus''. Widely distributed, it is found across Northern, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe, as well as parts of the Middle E ...

nightingale The common nightingale, rufous nightingale or simply nightingale (''Luscinia megarhynchos''), is a small passerine bird which is best known for its powerful and beautiful song. It was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, ...

nightjar Nightjars are medium-sized nocturnal or crepuscular birds in the family Caprimulgidae and order Caprimulgiformes, characterised by long wings, short legs, and very short bills. They are sometimes called bugeaters, their primary source of food ...

and

hawfinch The hawfinch (''Coccothraustes coccothraustes'') is a passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. It is the only extant species placed in the genus ''Coccothraustes''. Its closest living relatives are the genus '' Eophona'' of East Asia, a ...

. The site, in the grounds of

Edgbaston Hall Edgbaston Hall () is a country house (albeit now in the middle of the city) in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham, England. Description and current usage Since 1936, through negotiations initiated by The Birmingham Civic Society with the owner, Ca ...

, is part of the Calthorpe Estate, and is included in the leasehold of the Edgbaston Golf Club. The site was managed by a joint committee with members from the

Birmingham Natural History Society Birmingham Natural History Society was a learned society for the study of the natural history of Birmingham, England, and in the surrounding Midlands region, and beyond. It was founded in 1858, and was a registered charity. The Society has had v ...

and the Golf Club, in line with a management plan agreed with

Natural England Natural England is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It is responsible for ensuring that England's natural environment, including its land, flora and fauna, ...

(formerly English Nature). However, in January 2012, the

announced that, after many years, it was withdrawing from its formal role in the management of the SSSI (whose designation it was instrumental in securing), due to a decline in the number of volunteers able to carry out that role. The site will now be managed by the golf club, under a new 99-year lease, in association with

References

{{Birmingham parks Sites of Special Scientific Interest in the West Midlands (county) Nature reserves in Birmingham, West Midlands Edgbaston

See also

References