Haweswater Reservoir

Haweswater Reservoir lies in the drowned valley of Mardale, a remote reach of the Lake District in Cumbria. The water was raised by a 27.5-metre dam built in the 1930s to supply Manchester with drinking water. The reservoir stretches six kilometres through a steep-sided trough once occupied by farms and two small villages. A single road now clings to the eastern shore, leading to a car park at the western end. The dam itself is a hollow buttress structure, the first of its kind when it was completed in 1935. Beneath the water’s surface the remains of Mardale Green still appear when levels fall, revealing stone walls and the old village bridge. The valley is recognised for its wildlife recovery work led by the RSPB. Golden eagles returned here in 1969, the first pair to nest in England for more than a century and a half. A male bird remained alone until 2015, watched from a viewpoint that is no longer used. The charity now leases two farms to restore moorland, block drainage grips and plant juniper woodlands for birds and the rare mountain ringlet butterfly. Their on-site nursery grows native trees and plants for landscape restoration across the Lake District. Visitors walk the lakeside path or strike out across the surrounding fells of Harter Fell, Branstree and High Street. When water levels drop, submerged stonework of the old village appears beside the modern parapet of the dam. The reservoir is fed by the Haweswater Aqueduct and supplies a quarter of north-west England’s water. The valley’s history is recalled in Anthony Trollope’s novel and Alfred Wainwright’s guide, while Sarah Hall’s 2002 novel and Lee Schofield’s 2022 memoir keep the story of Mardale alive.