The Devonport Leat is a
leat
A leat (; also lete or leet, or millstream) is the name, common in the south and west of England and in Wales, for an artificial watercourse or aqueduct dug into the ground, especially one supplying water to a watermill or its mill pond. Othe ...
in
Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...
constructed in the 1790s to carry fresh drinking water from the high ground of
Dartmoor
Dartmoor is an upland area in southern Devon, England. The moorland and surrounding land has been protected by National Park status since 1951. Dartmoor National Park covers .
The granite which forms the uplands dates from the Carboniferous P ...
to the expanding dockyards at Plymouth Dock (which was renamed as
Devonport, Devon
Devonport ( ), formerly named Plymouth Dock or just Dock, is a district of Plymouth in the English county of Devon, although it was, at one time, the more important settlement. It became a county borough in 1889. Devonport was originally one o ...
on 1 January 1824).
Feedwaters
It is fed by five Dartmoor rivers: the
West Dart
The West Dart River is one of the two main tributaries of the River Dart in Devon, England.
Its source is about 2 km north of Rough Tor on north Dartmoor. It flows south to Two Bridges, then south east past Hexworthy to meet the East Dar ...
, the Cowsic, the Hart Tor Brook, the
River Meavy and the Blackabrook (this last apparently was the first portion to supply Plymouth Dock).
Construction
Dartmoor
granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...
was used to construct the water channel, as well as a small
aqueduct and a tunnel.
Historic changes
It was originally designed to carry water all the way to Plymouth Dock, a total distance of , but has since been shortened and the operational part of the leat now stops near the
Burrator Reservoir
Burrator Reservoir is a reservoir on the south side of Dartmoor in the English county of Devon. It is one of a number of reservoirs and dams that were built over the course of the 19th and 20th centuries in the area now covered by Dartmoor Nati ...
dam. Some of the water goes through underground pipes to the water treatment works at
Dousland; the rest goes into the Burrator Reservoir which provides most of the water supply of Plymouth. For part of the route to Dousland the pipes follow the route of the disused
Yelverton to
Princetown
Princetown is a villageDespite its name, Princetown is not classed as a town today – it is not included in the County Council's list of the 29 towns in Devon: located within Dartmoor national park in the English county of Devon. It is the ...
Railway. Before the piped supply to Dousland was installed, the water was used for a
hydroelectric turbine near Yelverton Reservoir and fed by a pipe.
Route
The Devonport Leat begins a short distance to the north of
Wistman's Wood
Wistman's Wood is one of three remote high-altitude oakwoods on Dartmoor, Devon, England.
Geography
The wood lies at an altitude of 380–410 metres in the valley of the West Dart River near Two Bridges, at grid reference SX612772.
The sourc ...
at an altitude of over and twice passes close to
Two Bridges (following the contours up the Cowsic valley in between) before heading towards
Princetown
Princetown is a villageDespite its name, Princetown is not classed as a town today – it is not included in the County Council's list of the 29 towns in Devon: located within Dartmoor national park in the English county of Devon. It is the ...
. Its water supply now ends up in
Burrator Reservoir
Burrator Reservoir is a reservoir on the south side of Dartmoor in the English county of Devon. It is one of a number of reservoirs and dams that were built over the course of the 19th and 20th centuries in the area now covered by Dartmoor Nati ...
. It follows a meandering path across the moor, carefully selected by engineers to follow the natural contours of the land.
See also
*
Drake's Leat
Drake's Leat, also known as Plymouth Leat, was a watercourse constructed in the late 16th century to tap the River Meavy on Dartmoor, England, from which it ran in order to supply Plymouth with water. It began at a point now under water at Burr ...
References
*
External links
{{Commons category, Devonport Leat
Dartmoor
Aqueducts in England
Industrial archaeological sites in Devon