Stanford Reservoir is a
drinking water
Drinking water or potable water is water that is safe for ingestion, either when drunk directly in liquid form or consumed indirectly through food preparation. It is often (but not always) supplied through taps, in which case it is also calle ...
reservoir on the
River Avon,
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 lies on the
county
A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
boundary between
Leicestershire
Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...
and
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...
near the village of
Stanford-on-Avon
Stanford-on-Avon is a village in the civil parish of Stanford in West Northamptonshire, England. It lies next to the River Avon, which here forms the county boundary between Northamptonshire and Leicestershire. On the Leicestershire side of th ...
.
The reservoir was built between 1928 and 1930 by
Rugby Urban District Council in order to supply the nearby town of
Rugby
Rugby may refer to:
Sport
* Rugby football in many forms:
** Rugby union: 15 players per side
*** American flag rugby
*** Beach rugby
*** Mini rugby
*** Rugby sevens, 7 players per side
*** Rugby tens, 10 players per side
*** Snow rugby
*** Tou ...
with drinking water. It was created by building an earth and clay
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 ...
across the line of the original river, and flooding a small valley between the villages of
South Kilworth
South Kilworth is a village and civil parish in the southern part of Leicestershire, England, south of North Kilworth. The parish has a population of 430, according to the 2001 Census, and is part of the district of Harborough.
The population h ...
and Stanford. At its north-eastern extremity, the river enters the reservoir via a
settling pond and leaves at the other end via a
spillway
A spillway is a structure used to provide the controlled release of water downstream from a dam or levee, typically into the riverbed of the dammed river itself. In the United Kingdom, they may be known as overflow channels. Spillways ensure tha ...
and a specially constructed channel below the dam. There is a by-pass channel along the northern perimeter, controlled by
sluice gate
A sluice ( ) is a water channel containing a sluice gate, a type of lock to manage the water flow and water level. There are various types of sluice gates, including flap sluice gates and fan gates. Different depths are calculated when design s ...
s, which allows the water level in the reservoir to be regulated and reduced for repair and maintenance works, and for the flow of water in the river below the dam to be maintained.
The reservoir was enlarged between 1958 and 1959, and now covers an area of approximately . The average width of the reservoir is around and the overall length is approximately . Following a 1 in 100 year flood risk assessment, the spillway was substantially reconstructed in 2017.
The reservoir is still used for its original role, but is now a top-up for the much larger
Draycote Water
Draycote Water is a reservoir and country park near the village of Dunchurch, south of Rugby in Warwickshire, England, owned and operated by Severn Trent Water. It draws its water from the River Leam, and supplies drinking water to Rugby ...
reservoir, some to the south-west which was created in the 1960s.
It is now owned by the company
Severn Trent Water
Severn Trent plc is a water company based in Coventry, England. It supplies 4.6 million households and business across the Midlands and Wales.
It is traded on the London Stock Exchange and a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. Severn Trent, the ...
.
The site is considered important for bird species including
tufted duck
The tufted duck (or tufted pochard) (''Aythya fuligula'') is a small diving duck with a population of nearly one million birds, found in northern Eurasia. They are partially migratory. The scientific name is derived from Ancient Greek , an unide ...
,
wigeon
The wigeons or widgeons are a group of birds, dabbling ducks currently classified in the genus ''Mareca'' along with two other species. There are three extant species of wigeon, in addition to one recently extinct species.
Biology
There are ...
,
pochard
Pochard is a common name used for several species of diving ducks:
*Four species in the genus ''Aythya'':
** Common pochard, ''Aythya ferina''
** Baer's pochard, ''Aythya baeri''
** Ferruginous pochard, ''Aythya nyroca''
** Madagascar pochard, ' ...
and
shoveller and five species of bats. The
have a management agreement to look after wildlife aspects.
The reservoir is open to public visits, but requires a permit.
References
External links
Northamptonshire Nature Reserves
{{authority control
Drinking water reservoirs in England
Reservoirs in Leicestershire
Reservoirs in Northamptonshire
RStanford