![Crowdy Reservoir Dam - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/Crowdy_Reservoir_Dam_-_geograph.org.uk_-_193911.jpg)
Crowdy Reservoir is located on
Bodmin Moor near
Camelford
Camelford ( kw, Reskammel) is a town and civil parish in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, situated in the River Camel valley northwest of Bodmin Moor. The town is approximately ten miles (16 km) north of Bodmin and is governed ...
in north
Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
. It is currently managed, jointly by the South West Lakes Trust and
South West Water
South West Water provides drinking water and waste water services throughout Devon and Cornwall and in small areas of Dorset and Somerset. South West Water was created in 1989 with the privatisation of the water industry. It was preceded by the ...
. There is public access to the reservoir away from the nature reserve.
The reservoir supplies water to the North Cornwall water distribution network via treatment at the
Lowermoor Water Treatment Works.
History
The concrete dam was completed on Crowdy Marsh in 1973.
Geography
Crowdy Reservoir is a reservoir on the northern edge of
Bodmin Moor Cornwall. It is mostly in the
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...
of
Advent and includes a small area in
Davidstow
Davidstow ( kw, Logdewi (village) and kw, Pluwdhewi (parish)) is a civil parish and village in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village is north of Bodmin Moor straddling the A395 road about north of Camelford. The hamlets of Hal ...
parish and is fed by run-off and drainage from the surrounding moorland. The nearest town is
Camelford
Camelford ( kw, Reskammel) is a town and civil parish in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, situated in the River Camel valley northwest of Bodmin Moor. The town is approximately ten miles (16 km) north of Bodmin and is governed ...
to the east;
Roughtor
Rough Tor (), or Roughtor, is a tor on Bodmin Moor, Cornwall, United Kingdom. The site is composed of the tor summit and logan stone, a neolithic tor enclosure, a large number of Bronze Age hut circles, and some contemporary monuments.
Top ...
is to the south; Davidstow Moor on the east shore and to the north is the former
Davidstow Airfield now partially covered by a
Forestry England
Forestry England is a division of the Forestry Commission, responsible for managing and promoting publicly owned forests in England. It was formed as Forest Enterprise in 1996, before devolving to Forest Enterprise England on 31 March 2003 and ...
plantation, Davidstow Woods. The eastern two-thirds is within the Bodmin Moor, North
Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).
The reservoir provides water to parts of
North Cornwall
North Cornwall ( kw, An Tiredh Uhel) is an area of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is also the name of a former local government district, which was administered from Bodmin and Wadebridge . Other towns in the area are Launceston, Bude, P ...
.
Natural history and ecology
Built on a marsh, the reservoir still retains a high degree of biological interest with a gradual transition from emergent vegetation with islets and peat to open water. Cornwall's only major colony of
black-headed gull
The black-headed gull (''Chroicocephalus ridibundus'') is a small gull that breeds in much of the Palearctic including Europe and also in coastal eastern Canada. Most of the population is migratory and winters further south, but some birds r ...
(''Chroicocephalus ridibundus'') breed here and a number wildfowl also breed or overwinter here. Some of the species include,
gadwall (''Anas strepera''),
goldeneye
''GoldenEye'' is a 1995 spy film, the seventeenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, and the first to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Directed by Martin Campbell, it was the first in the se ...
(''Bucephala clangula''),
goosander
The common merganser (North American) or goosander (Eurasian) (''Mergus merganser'') is a large seaduck of rivers and lakes in forested areas of Europe, Asia, and North America. The common merganser eats mainly fish. It nests in holes in trees.
...
(''Mergus merganser''),
mallard (''Anas platyrhynchos''),
common pochard
The common pochard (; ''Aythya ferina'') is a medium-sized diving duck. The scientific name is derived from Greek '' aithuia'', an unidentified seabird mentioned by authors including Hesychius and Aristotle, and Latin ''ferina'', "wild game", ...
(''Aythya ferina''),
shoveller
The shovelers or shovellers are four species of dabbling ducks with long, broad spatula-shaped beaks:
* Red shoveler, ''Anas platalea''
* Cape shoveler, ''Anas smithii''
* Australasian shoveler, ''Anas rhynchotis''
* Northern shoveler, ''Anas c ...
(''Anas clypeata''),
teal
alt=American teal duck (male), Green-winged teal (male)
Teal is a greenish-blue colour. Its name comes from that of a bird — the Eurasian teal (''Anas crecca'') — which presents a similarly coloured stripe on its head. The word is oft ...
(''Anas crecca'') and
tufted duck
The tufted duck or tufted pochard (''Aythya fuligula'') is a small diving duck with a population of close to one million birds, found in northern Eurasia. The scientific name is derived from Ancient Greek '' aithuia'', an unidentified seabird ment ...
(''Aythya fuligula'').
See also
*
List of reservoirs and dams in the United Kingdom
This is a list of dams and reservoirs in the United Kingdom.
England Buckinghamshire
* Foxcote Reservoir, north of Buckingham
*Weston Turville Reservoir, between Weston Turville and Wendover
Cambridgeshire
* Grafham Water
Cheshire
* Bollinh ...
References
{{authority control
Birdwatching sites in England
Bodmin Moor
Buildings and structures completed in 1973
Buildings and structures in Cornwall
R
Drinking water reservoirs in England
Nature reserves in Cornwall
Reservoirs in Cornwall