Megget Reservoir is an impounding reservoir in the Megget valley in Ettrick Forest, in the

Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders ( sco, the Mairches, 'the Marches'; gd, Crìochan na h-Alba) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lothian, Midlothian, South Lanarkshire, West Lot ...

. The reservoir is held back by the largest

earth dam An embankment dam is a large artificial dam. It is typically created by the placement and compaction of a complex semi-plastic mound of various compositions of soil or rock. It has a semi-pervious waterproof natural covering for its surface an ...

in Scotland. The reservoir collects water from the

Tweedsmuir Tweedsmuir ( gd, Sliabh Thuaidh) is a village and civil parish in Tweeddale, the Scottish Borders Council district, southeastern Scotland. Geography The village is set in a valley, with the rolling hills and burns on both sides, covering some ...

Hills, which is then conveyed via underground pipelines and tunnels to

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. The pipelines are routed through the Manor Valley and the Meldon Hills, to

Gladhouse Reservoir Gladhouse Reservoir, formerly known as Moorfoot Loch, is a reservoir in Midlothian, Scotland, five miles (8 km) south of Penicuik. It is the most southerly reservoir in Midlothian, as well as being the largest area of freshwater in the L ...

and

Glencorse Reservoir Glencorse Reservoir is a reservoir in Midlothian, 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 Auchend ...

in the

Pentland Hills The Pentland Hills are a range of hills southwest of Edinburgh, Scotland. The range is around in length, and runs southwest from Edinburgh towards Biggar and the upper Clydesdale. Etymology The name is first recorded for the farm of Pentla ...

. These two reservoirs store the water until such times as it is required. Excess water which overflows from the reservoir is returned to the Megget Water, and hence into St. Mary's Loch.

History

The Megget Reservoir Scheme was first seriously considered in 1963. In 1974, the then water authority Lothian Regional Council applied for and received authority from the Secretary of State to proceed. Design was carried out by chartered civil engineers Robert H Cuthbertson & Partners on behalf of the water authority, and construction started in 1976. The dam which holds the reservoir is concrete with an asphalt impermeable core. The reservoir was officially opened on 30 September 1983. It has a capacity of , and a maximum water level of above

Ordnance Datum In the British Isles, an ordnance datum or OD is a vertical datum used by an ordnance survey as the basis for deriving altitudes on maps. A spot height may be expressed as AOD for "above ordnance datum". Usually mean sea level (MSL) is used ...

. The embankment is high and its crest is long. In 1983, Lothian Regional Council commissioned a short film - ''"A Different Valley"'' - on the construction of the dam and associated works. A copy of this is held by the

National Library of Scotland The National Library of Scotland (NLS) ( gd, Leabharlann Nàiseanta na h-Alba, sco, Naitional Leebrar o Scotland) is the legal deposit library of Scotland and is one of the country's National Collections. As one of the largest libraries in t ...

and can be viewed online.

Cramalt Tower

The site of Cramalt or Cramald tower or castle was covered by the water of the reservoir. The excavated foundations have been reconstructed near the shoreline of the reservoir. Cramalt Tower was used by

James V James V (10 April 1512 – 14 December 1542) was King of Scotland from 9 September 1513 until his death in 1542. He was crowned on 21 September 1513 at the age of seventeen months. James was the son of King James IV and Margaret Tudor, and du ...

when he came to hunt deer in the area. His masons worked on the building in 1533. There were two towers. When James V came to hunt in September 1538 his servant John Tennent brought bedding from

Linlithgow Palace The ruins of Linlithgow Palace are located in the town of Linlithgow, West Lothian, Scotland, west of Edinburgh. The palace was one of the principal residences of the monarchs of Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland in the 15th and 16th ce ...

and Malcolm Gourlay brought tents stored at

Holyrood Palace The Palace of Holyroodhouse ( or ), commonly referred to as Holyrood Palace or Holyroodhouse, is the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland. Located at the bottom of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, at the opposite end to Edinburgh ...

for his company. His men were equipped with staffs and halberds. The castle belonged to

Lord Hay of Yester Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...

. A later 16th-century chronicle by Robert Lindsay of Pitscottie describes James V hunting at Meggetland in June 1528 (but really 1529) with 12,000 courtiers and followers. After hunting in the region he caught the outlaw Johnnie Armstrong .

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legitimate child of James V of S ...

and

Lord Darnley Lord Darnley is a noble title associated with a Scottish Lordship of Parliament, first created in 1356 for the family of Stewart of Darnley and tracing a descent to the Dukedom of Richmond in England. The title's name refers to Darnley in Sco ...

stayed for few days in August 1566 while hunting in Meggetland. While Mary was at the castle she wrote invitations to the baptism of Prince James to be held at

Stirling Castle Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most important castles in Scotland, both historically and architecturally. The castle sits atop Castle Hill, an intrusive crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill geological ...

. They found little sport, and Mary issued a proclamation that no one should shoot deer with handguns or bows. John Hill Burton, ''Register of the Privy Council'', vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1877), pp. 477.

References

Megget Reservoir remedial work to upstream face rip-rap protection, by Hesselberg-Hydro
* Lothian Regional Council Brochure, ''Megget Water'', circa 1983

External links

Biggar Archaeology Group Megget reservoir projectSouthern Reporter, 10 February 2010: Fighting flood from Megget reservoirCase Study, Megget Reservoir: Fighting erosion
{{authority control Reservoirs in the Scottish Borders Civil engineering Dams in Scotland

History

Cramalt Tower

See also

References

External links