Glencorse Reservoir is a reservoir in

Midlothian Midlothian (; gd, Meadhan Lodainn) is a historic county, registration county, lieutenancy area and one of 32 council areas of Scotland used for local government. Midlothian lies in the east-central Lowlands, bordering the City of Edinburgh, ...

, Scotland, two miles west of Glencorse, in the Pentland Hills. It is retained by an earth dam, and it was built between 1820 and 1824 by James Jardine to provide water for the mills of Auchendinny,

Milton Bridge Milton Bridge is a village in Midlothian, Scotland. It is located two miles north of Penicuik on the Glencorse Burn and gets its name from the bridge crossing. In the 19th century, local paper mills caused the village to grow. Later the British Ar ...

and Glencorse, and to supply drinking water to the citizens of Edinburgh. The dam is at its highest point, one of the tallest in Britain when it was constructed, and was built at a point where a spur of rock narrowed the channel of the Glencorse Burn, which caused great difficulties in its construction. The gravel bed on which the burn flowed was up to deep and when this was removed to create a clay-puddle dyke, the hill on the south side collapsed. The reservoir is the property of Scottish Water. The reservoir was built to provide water to compensate the mills at Glencorse,

and Auchendinny and to ensure a supply of drinking water to Edinburgh through a cast-iron pipe which took water to two small reservoirs in the city, at Castlehill and near George Heriot's School. The reservoir has an area of . A Water Treatment Works was opened at Glencorse in 2012 to replace aged facilities at Alnwickhill and Fairmilehead and treat water from Talla, Fruid and Megget reservoirs. In 2019, Glencorse Water Treatment Works was reported to have the capacity to supply up to 175 million litres of water per day and was supplying water to up to 450,000 customers in parts of

West Lothian West Lothian ( sco, Wast Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Iar) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and was one of its shires of Scotland, historic counties. The county was called Linlithgowshire until 1925. The historic county was bounded geogra ...

and Edinburgh. Beneath the surface of the reservoir are the remains of St Catherine's of the Hopes, a 13th century chapel.

References

External links

Scottish Water - plans for new Glencorse Water Treatment WorksRoyal Collection of Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland: Collaboration Projects with Defence Estates - Archaeological investigationBBC Radio Four, Open Country, programme about the Pentland Hills and reservoirsForestry Commission - Picture Library - Glencorse ReservoirThe Scotsman, 17 February 2008:Walk of the Week - Glencorse, Loganlea and Threipmuir Reservoirs, Pentlands
Reservoirs in Midlothian {{Midlothian-geo-stub

See also

References

External links