Bath Road Reservoir is an underground reservoir complex in the town of

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...

in the English county of Berkshire. Located to the North-West of the

Bath Road The A4 is a major road in England from Central London to Avonmouth via Heathrow Airport, Reading, Bath and Bristol. It is historically known as the Bath Road with newer sections including the Great West Road and Portway. The road was once the ...

in West Reading, the complex covers . It comprises two underground reservoirs, covered entirely by vegetation, together with a

water tower A water tower is an elevated structure supporting a water tank constructed at a height sufficient to pressurize a distribution system for potable water, and to provide emergency storage for fire protection. Water towers often operate in conju ...

that is listed as a grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

History

The site dates back to 1850, when the Reading Union Water Company started construction of the reservoir, which opened in 1852. Originally untreated water was pumped to the reservoir by a pumping station at Southcote Lock on the

River Kennet The Kennet is a tributary of the River Thames in Southern England. Most of the river is straddled by the North Wessex Downs AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty). The lower reaches have been made navigable as the Kennet Navigation, which � ...

, and filtered on site before being gravity fed to consumers in the town. The site was acquired by Reading Borough Council in 1868, and the water tower built in 1870. New reservoirs were constructed in 1900 and 1939, and these were supplemented by the construction of the Tilehurst Water Tower, on higher ground elsewhere, in 1932. The northern reservoir fell out of use by 1960, and the newer southern reservoir by 1993. The Bath Road water tower was last used in the 1970s.

Development

The site is no longer required for its original purpose, and

Thames Water Thames Water Utilities Ltd, known as Thames Water, is a large private utility company responsible for the public water supply and waste water treatment in most of Greater London, Luton, the Thames Valley, Surrey, Gloucestershire, north Wiltsh ...

, its current owners, have submitted several plans to redevelop the site for housing. This has proved controversial in the surrounding area, largely because it has become home to a wide range of wildlife including protected species. Species sighted on the site include

roe deer The roe deer (''Capreolus capreolus''), also known as the roe, western roe deer, or European roe, is a species of deer. The male of the species is sometimes referred to as a roebuck. The roe is a small deer, reddish and grey-brown, and well-adapt ...

badger Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the family Mustelidae (which also includes the otters, wolverines, martens, minks, polecats, weasels, and ferrets). Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united by ...

owl Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...

s, slow worms,

muntjac Muntjacs ( ), also known as the barking deer or rib-faced deer, (URL is Google Books) are small deer of the genus ''Muntiacus'' native to South Asia and Southeast Asia. Muntjacs are thought to have begun appearing 15–35 million years ago, ...

, foxes,

hedgehog A hedgehog is a spiny mammal of the subfamily Erinaceinae, in the eulipotyphlan family Erinaceidae. There are seventeen species of hedgehog in five genera found throughout parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and in New Zealand by introductio ...

s, and a variety of birds and butterflies. In 2008, Thames Water submitted plans for 96 homes on the site. In 2009,

Reading Borough Council Reading Borough Council is the local authority for the Borough of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. Berkshire is purely a ceremonia ...

rejected the plans. Thames Water filed an appeal, which was rejected in January 2011. The planning inspector stated that the development would damage "the character and appearance of the site and the wider area." In August 2011, Thames Water announced new plans that would involve the construction of 80 homes on the site, whilst setting aside a small proportion of the land (20%) as a wildlife reserve. The new plans also involve the conversion of the water tower into residential accommodation. Consultation for these new plans opened on 24 September 2011. On 17 October 2012, Reading Borough Council approved plans to create 84 homes on the site. The plans include extending the pump house and water tower to create 10 homes and convert the water tower into six apartments.

References

External links

Save the Bath Road Reservoir
{{authority control Thames Water reservoirs Grade II listed buildings in Reading Reservoirs in Berkshire