| Fernilee Reservoir | |
|---|---|
 | |
  Fernilee Reservoir | |
| Location | Derbyshire |
| Coordinates | 53°17′20″N1°59′53″W / 53.28889°N 1.99806°W /53.28889; -1.99806 (Fernilee Reservoir) |
| Type | reservoir |
| Basin countries | United Kingdom |
| Max. length | 1.8 kilometres (1.1 mi) |
| Max. width | 300 metres (984 ft) |
| Max. depth | 38 metres (125 ft) |
| Water volume | 5,000,000 cubic metres (176,573,334 cu ft) |
Fernilee Reservoir is a drinking-water reservoir fed by theRiver Goyt in thePeak District National Park, within the county ofDerbyshire and very close to the boundary withCheshire. The village ofFernliee sits at the north end of the reservoir, with Goyt's Moss to the south and between Hoo Moor to the west andCombs Moss to the east.[1]
It was inaugurated in 1932 (following anAct of Parliament in 1825) and construction was completed in 1938, costing £480,000. Its capacity is about 5 billion litres and is 38m deep. Local farming families were forced to leave their ancestral land. A 'Tin Town'corrugated iron temporary village was built near Fernilee for thenavvy workers. The hamlet of Goyt's Bridge andErrwood Hall (the Grimshawe family mansion) were destroyed in the 1930s to prevent any pollution of the water running into Fernilee Reservoir. Thereservoir was the first and lower of two reservoirs built by the Stockport Corporation Waterworks (after they acquired the Grimshawe estate) in theGoyt Valley, the other one beingErrwood Reservoir.The StreetRoman road runs alongside Errwood Reservoir and to the west of Fernilee Reservoir. Both reservoirs were built by Lehane, Mackenzie and Shand. The reservoir provides drinking water forStockport town and the surrounding area. It is currently owned and operated byUnited Utilities.[2][3][4]
The lowerToddbrook Reservoir atWhaley Bridge drains into the River Goyt but is fed from the Todd Brook stream.
The disusedCromford and High Peak Railway line (which connected theHigh Peak canal atWhaley Bridge with theRiver Derwent inCromford) runs along the east side of the reservoir. This stretch of the railway line was closed in 1896.[5]
The creation of the reservoir submerged the Chilworth Gunpowder Mill. It manufactured chemical explosives from the 16th century untilWorld War I.[5][6]
ThePeak District Boundary Walk crosses the Errwood Dam at the head of Fernilee Reservoir and then tracks along the west side of the reservoir.[7]