Embsay Reservoir is located above the village of

Embsay Embsay is a village in the county of North Yorkshire, England. It is paired with the neighbouring hamlet of Eastby to form the civil parish of Embsay with Eastby. The parish population as of the 2011 census was 1,871. Until 1974 it was part of ...

, near

Skipton Skipton (also known as Skipton-in-Craven) is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the East Division of Staincliffe Wapentake in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is on the River Aire and the Leeds ...

in the

Yorkshire Dales The Yorkshire Dales are a series of valleys, or Dale (landform), dales, in the Pennines, an Highland, upland range in England. They are mostly located in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, but extend into C ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

, England. It is owned by

Yorkshire Water Yorkshire Water is a British water supply and treatment utility company servicing West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, the East Riding of Yorkshire, part of North Lincolnshire, most of North Yorkshire and part of Derbyshire, in England. The company ...

, and supplies water to the north and west of Skipton, feeding 25,000 homes. It has a dam height of .

History

The reservoir was built by Skipton

Urban District Council In England and Wales, an urban district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area. Urban districts had an elected urban district council (UDC), which shared local government responsibilities with a county council. ...

to service the needs of a rapidly rising population in the area. Sanctioned by the Skipton Water and Improvement Act of 1904, forty acres of Embsay Pasture were compulsorily purchased from the

Duke of Devonshire Duke of Devonshire is a title in the Peerage of England held by members of the Cavendish family. This (now the senior) branch of the Cavendish family has been one of the wealthiest British aristocratic families since the 16th century and has b ...

in 1905, and work started almost immediately, with the engineering contract being awarded to the specialist company, Messrs G H Hill and Sons. The construction contract at the amount of £47,164 went to Messrs. Harold Arnold and Son, of

Doncaster Doncaster ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don, it is the administrative centre of the City of Doncaster metropolitan borough, and is the second largest se ...

. During construction of the reservoir, engineers and 150 of the

navvy Navvy, a Clipping (morphology), clipping of navigator (United Kingdom, UK) or navigational engineer (United States, US), is particularly applied to describe the manual Laborer, labourers working on major civil engineering projects and occasional ...

workers employed were accommodated in the Whitfield Syke cotton-mill on the north side of the reservoir. In the mill's warehouse, the

Navvy Mission Society The Industrial Christian Fellowship (ICF) is a British Christian organization which aims to promote Christian faith and values in the workplace. History Elizabeth Garnett, missionary to navvies, co-founded the Navvy Mission Society in 1877, along ...

, concerned about the welfare of the workers, was allowed to establish a chapel and a reading room. Construction of the embankment used locally excavated puddle clay, and stones were quarried from below the nearby Embsay Crag, the quarry still visible as a scar in the landscape today. The reservoir was completed before the end of 1909, and the reservoir was full by 10 January the following year. It was officially opened on 21 June 1910. No houses were submerged as part of the project, but the old Whitfield Syke Mill was demolished. Today, the mill's warehouse, consecrated as a chapel, stands as England's last physical link to the Navvy Mission Society. The reservoir is used for leisure activities such as sailing,

angling Angling (from Old English ''angol'', meaning "hook") is a fishing technique that uses a fish hook attached to a fishing line to tether individual fish in the mouth. The fishing line is usually manipulated with a fishing rod, although rodless te ...

, and walking, and is the home of the Craven Sailing Club. There are car parking facilities for visitors.

References

External links

Yorkshire Water
– Embsay Moor Reservoir {{authority control Reservoirs in North Yorkshire Embsay with Eastby