Swithland Reservoir

Swithland Reservoir
View from the causeway at the southern end, with Brazil Island in the centre and the railway viaduct to the right.
Location	Leicestershire
Coordinates	52°43′20″N 1°10′25″W / 52.72222°N 1.17361°W / 52.72222; -1.17361Coordinates: 52°43′20″N 1°10′25″W / 52.72222°N 1.17361°W / 52.72222; -1.17361
Type	Reservoir
Primary inflows	Lingdale Brook, Swithland Brook, Hallgates Brook, Bradgate Brook
Primary outflows	Buddon Brook
Basin countries	United Kingdom
Water volume	600 million imperial gallons (2,200 acre·ft)
Settlements	Swithland

Swithland Reservoir is a reservoir in the English county of Leicestershire. It is north-east of the village of Swithland from which it takes its name, north-west of Rothley and approximately 133 metres south-west of Mountsorrel Quarry.

Leicester's rapidly growing population in the latter half of the 19th century required the construction of a series of reservoirs. In 1854 Thornton Reservoir was opened, serving a population of 61,000. By 1861 the population had increased, with the Waterworks Company now directly supplying 24,000 people, and five years later the company was supplying between 60 and 70,000 people and work began on Bradgate Reservoir (now known as Cropston Reservoir). By 1878 the "water population" had increased to 110,000 and by 1893 to 203,000, requiring further reservoirs to be constructed.

In 1890 Leicester City Council sought Parliamentary authority to acquire the land required to construct Swithland reservoir, which would be supplied from Lingdale Brook, Swithland Brook, Hallgates Brook, and Bradgate Brook, and construction commenced in 1894, with completion in 1896; The works including the holding reservoir and new pumping engines together with the engine and boiler houses at the Cropston station, were designed by John Breedon Everard of Pick Everard. The reservoir opened on 10 September in that year. The reservoir was constructed by Messrs. John Aird & Sons of London, who submitted a successful £133,511 tender and had a temporary railway extension built from Mountsorrel to assist with transportation of construction materials; This was extended to Hallgates in Cropston, where an additional storage reservoir was constructed, making the length nine miles in total.

The site of the reservoir was a wooded valley between six villages. Four of them have parts of their parish covered by it, namely Swithland, Rothley, Woodhouse and Quorn, the other two being Mountsorrel and Woodhouse Eaves. The stream through the valley, which feeds the reservoir, is called Bradgate Brook at the point where it now meets the reservoir. At its outflow it is known as Buddon Brook, and flows north and then west for 2 km (1.4 mi) before joining the River Soar. At its upper reaches, in the hills of Ulverscroft it flows south-east and is called Ulverscroft Brook. At Newtown Linford, where it is known as the River Lin, it turns to the north-east and flows through Bradgate Park and into Cropston Reservoir, after which, as Bradgate Brook it reaches the southern end of Swithland Reservoir. A second stream, known as Swithland Brook, joins the west side of the reservoir having risen beyond Swithland Wood, through which it flows, and continues eastward through Swithland village.