Blackbrook Reservoir is a large body of water near Shepshed

Shepshed

Shepshed, often known until 1888 as Sheepshed, is a town in Leicestershire, England with a population of around 14,000 people...

, Leicestershire

Leicestershire

Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...

, in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. The reservoir

Reservoir

A reservoir , artificial lake or dam is used to store water.Reservoirs may be created in river valleys by the construction of a dam or may be built by excavation in the ground or by conventional construction techniques such as brickwork or cast concrete.The term reservoir may also be used to...

 was constructed in 1796 in order to feed the Charnwood Forest Canal

Charnwood Forest Canal

The Charnwood Forest Canal, sometimes known as the "Forest Line of the Leicester Navigation", was opened between Thringstone and Nanpantan, with a further connection to Barrow Hill, near Worthington, in 1794...

, which has long since vanished. The first dam constructed was an earthworks one, and this failed on February 20 of 1799. In eleven minutes the reservoir was empty and as a result local farmland was ruined, sheep were drowned, and much of Shepshed

Shepshed

Shepshed, often known until 1888 as Sheepshed, is a town in Leicestershire, England with a population of around 14,000 people...

 and nearby Loughborough

Loughborough

Loughborough is a town within the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England. It is the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and is home to Loughborough University...

 were affected by flood waters. The dam was repaired in 1801, but the canal was no longer commercially viable.

The present gravity dam was constructed in 1906 and was officially opened by the first Mayor of Loughborough Joseph Griggs. In 1957 the dam felt the effects of a magnitude 5.3 earthquake. The tremors caused heavy coping stones to shift and cracks appeared in the faces of the dam.

The site is a Site of Special Scientific Interest

Site of Special Scientific Interest

A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...

 notified in 1981.

See also

• Canals of the United Kingdom
  Canals of the United Kingdom
  The canals of the United Kingdom are a major part of the network of inland waterways in the United Kingdom. They have a colourful history, from use for irrigation and transport, through becoming the focus of the Industrial Revolution, to today's role for recreational boating...
  
  
• History of the British canal system
  History of the British canal system
  The British canal system of water transport played a vital role in the United Kingdom's Industrial Revolution at a time when roads were only just emerging from the medieval mud and long trains of pack horses were the only means of "mass" transit by road of raw materials and finished products The...
  
  

External links

• In Search of the Lost Canal - by S N Badcock
• A circular walk to Bardon Hill - Includes photographs of the reservoir
• Leicestershire Climbs - Blackbrook Reservoir