1. The History
Damflask Reservoir is situated in the Peak District National Park near to the village of Low Bradfield. The name of the reservoir derives from the hamlet of Damflask which was destroyed in the great flood of 1864 when the Dale Dyke Dam collapsed. The reservoir is the largest and newest of the reservoirs in the Loxley River catchment area, and along with Agden, Dale Dike and Strines reservoirs, regulates the water level in the River Loxley. Damflask was created in 1896 constructed from local stone in order to supply drinking water to Sheffield. Owned by the Sheffield Corporation Waterworks, it opened the year after in 1897. For the first 20 years of its life the dam suffered leakage problems due to flaws in its construction. It had never been the intention for Damflask to be used for public water supply. Its main purpose was as a compensation reservoir to regulate water flow in the river for the many industrial sites dependent on waterpower along the River Loxley. And up until the 1930s it carefully controlled the water level to the large number of water-driven rolling mills and forges in the valley between the reservoir and Malin Bridge. B
The two curving outlets at the foot of the dam are controlled from the two pyramidal valve houses on the dam wall. The dam itself is approximately 400 metres wide at the top, with a maximum height of 28 metres, and has a capacity of nearly 5 million cubic metres of water. Now it provides access to sailing and fishing.
The spillway is an overflow structure used to control water flows into the area downstream of the reservoir. When the reservoir is full, it is used to pass floodwater in safe and controlled way downstream, so water does not come over the top of the dam. In 2016, Yorkshire Water commenced an £800,000 spillway improvement project at Damflask Reservoir which was completed 18 months later. Just as well, as in November 2019, after repeated heavy rainfall, it looked like this:
At the bottom of the spillway is the concrete-built Stacey Bank compensation Reservoir. Not 'linked' to the River Loxley or Damflask Reservoir, it was constructed for the River Don Pumping Scheme in the early 1900's. It was filled with water pumped from the River Don at Tinsley, through miles of mains pipes. Now disused and empty, it did suffer a break in its wall in 1922, flooding the valley but fortunately not leading to any loss of life.
Google Maps view of the spillway:
2. The Explore
A nice way to ease back into exploring as lockdown itself began to ease, this was a pretty relaxed mooch on a very nice June afternoon. Maybe not as spectacular as, say, the plughole at Ladybower reservoir, there is still something very spectacular about the main part of the spillway. The standard of architecture and stonework on this classic bit of Victorian engineering is a delight.
3. The Pictures
Starting at the top of the dam:
Water depth measurer:
Looking over to the start of the spillway:
Bridge carrying the B6076 over the spillway:
Looking back to the reservoir from under the bridge:
And down to the spillway:
Down we go:
At the bottom of the stairs:
And the end of the spillway:
At the end of the spillway on the right-hand-side is Stacey Bank compensation reservoir – a holding reservoir. It looks like some sort of medieval keep:
We didn’t go down into here. We were confident we could get in but, due to the steepness and wetness of the slope, weren’t sure we would get back out without a rope.
And finally, looking back to the majestic spillway:
3
Damflask Reservoir is situated in the Peak District National Park near to the village of Low Bradfield. The name of the reservoir derives from the hamlet of Damflask which was destroyed in the great flood of 1864 when the Dale Dyke Dam collapsed. The reservoir is the largest and newest of the reservoirs in the Loxley River catchment area, and along with Agden, Dale Dike and Strines reservoirs, regulates the water level in the River Loxley. Damflask was created in 1896 constructed from local stone in order to supply drinking water to Sheffield. Owned by the Sheffield Corporation Waterworks, it opened the year after in 1897. For the first 20 years of its life the dam suffered leakage problems due to flaws in its construction. It had never been the intention for Damflask to be used for public water supply. Its main purpose was as a compensation reservoir to regulate water flow in the river for the many industrial sites dependent on waterpower along the River Loxley. And up until the 1930s it carefully controlled the water level to the large number of water-driven rolling mills and forges in the valley between the reservoir and Malin Bridge. B
The two curving outlets at the foot of the dam are controlled from the two pyramidal valve houses on the dam wall. The dam itself is approximately 400 metres wide at the top, with a maximum height of 28 metres, and has a capacity of nearly 5 million cubic metres of water. Now it provides access to sailing and fishing.
The spillway is an overflow structure used to control water flows into the area downstream of the reservoir. When the reservoir is full, it is used to pass floodwater in safe and controlled way downstream, so water does not come over the top of the dam. In 2016, Yorkshire Water commenced an £800,000 spillway improvement project at Damflask Reservoir which was completed 18 months later. Just as well, as in November 2019, after repeated heavy rainfall, it looked like this:
At the bottom of the spillway is the concrete-built Stacey Bank compensation Reservoir. Not 'linked' to the River Loxley or Damflask Reservoir, it was constructed for the River Don Pumping Scheme in the early 1900's. It was filled with water pumped from the River Don at Tinsley, through miles of mains pipes. Now disused and empty, it did suffer a break in its wall in 1922, flooding the valley but fortunately not leading to any loss of life.
Google Maps view of the spillway:
2. The Explore
A nice way to ease back into exploring as lockdown itself began to ease, this was a pretty relaxed mooch on a very nice June afternoon. Maybe not as spectacular as, say, the plughole at Ladybower reservoir, there is still something very spectacular about the main part of the spillway. The standard of architecture and stonework on this classic bit of Victorian engineering is a delight.
3. The Pictures
Starting at the top of the dam:
Water depth measurer:
Looking over to the start of the spillway:
Bridge carrying the B6076 over the spillway:
Looking back to the reservoir from under the bridge:
And down to the spillway:
Down we go:
At the bottom of the stairs:
And the end of the spillway:
At the end of the spillway on the right-hand-side is Stacey Bank compensation reservoir – a holding reservoir. It looks like some sort of medieval keep:
We didn’t go down into here. We were confident we could get in but, due to the steepness and wetness of the slope, weren’t sure we would get back out without a rope.
And finally, looking back to the majestic spillway:
3
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