Stithians Reservoir ( kw, Kreun Stedhyan) is a

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

situated just under a mile to the west of the village of

Stithians Stithians ( kw, Stedhyans), also known as St Stythians, is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It lies in the middle of the triangle bounded by Redruth, Helston and Falmouth, Cornwall, ...

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 ...

, England, UK.

History

Work on the dam began on 19 July 1962, however work stopped shortly after due to excavations which revealed the site was over a large area of soft kaolinised

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 undergro ...

, which would require expensive foundations. A new design was drawn up for the dam, which was the current arched design. The dam was opened on 13 October 1967 by Sir John Carew Pole, whilst the

Bishop of Truro The Bishop of Truro is the ordinary (diocesan bishop) of the Church of England Diocese of Truro in the Province of Canterbury. History There had been between the 9th and 11th centuries a Bishopric of Cornwall until it was merged with Credi ...

, Dr

Maurice Key (John) Maurice Key (4 June 1905 – 21 December 1984) was the Anglican Bishop of Sherborne then Truro in the third quarter of the 20th century. He was educated at Rossall School and Pembroke College, Cambridge and ordained in 1928. Beginning hi ...

blessed the reservoir. By the opening in 1967 the valley behind the dam was completely flooded, 274 acres of farmland and three country houses becamesubmerged. Two

causeway A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet Tra ...

s were built to carry sections of roads that were flooded, one at the southern end and the other in the north western corner near the Golden Lion Inn.

Statistics

The dam is 41.5 m high and 244m wide. It was built at a total cost of £1,125,000 (£ equivalent as of ).

Usage

There is an Outdoor Activity Centre offering watersports facilities at Stithians Lake. Sailing, windsurfing, kayaking, SUP and canoeing activities available. Non sport activities include bird watching, fly fishing for trout & a campsite.

References

Bill Scolding (2009) ''Five Walks around Wendron'', Wendron Parish Council Drinking water reservoirs in England Landforms of Cornwall Reservoirs in Cornwall {{Cornwall-geo-stub

History

Statistics

Usage

See also

References