Tixall Wide, also known as Tixall Broad or The Broad Water, is a body of water that forms part of the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal

Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal

The Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal is a narrow navigable canal in the English Midlands, passing through the counties of Staffordshire and Worcestershire....

 near Tixall

Tixall

Tixall is a small village and former civil parish in the English county of Staffordshire lying on the western side of the Trent valley between Rugeley and Stone, Staffordshire and roughly 4 miles east of Stafford...

 in Staffordshire

Staffordshire

Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...

, 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...

, to the south of the former Tixall Hall. The hall was, at that time, owned by Thomas Clifford, the fourth son of Hugh Clifford, 3rd Baron Clifford of Chudleigh

Hugh Clifford, 3rd Baron Clifford of Chudleigh

Hugh Clifford, 3rd Baron Clifford of Chudleigh was born on 14 April 1700 and died on 26 March 1732 in Ugbrooke, where he was buried. He was the son of Hugh Clifford, 2nd Baron Clifford of Chudleigh and his wife Anne, née Preston....

, and the grounds had been designed on the advice of the Landscape architect

Landscape architect

A landscape architect is a person involved in the planning, design and sometimes direction of a landscape, garden, or distinct space. The professional practice is known as landscape architecture....

 Lancelot "Capability" Brown. The lake was probably created during the construction of the canal in 1771. It is said he "gave permission for the canal to pass through his land on the condition that it was made...wide enough to look like a lake from the house", and thus in order not to spoil the view.

It has also been suggested that the canal was routed to utilise a lake that already existed, in which the angler

Angling

Angling is a method of fishing by means of an "angle" . The hook is usually attached to a fishing line and the line is often attached to a fishing rod. Fishing rods are usually fitted with a fishing reel that functions as a mechanism for storing, retrieving and paying out the line. The hook itself...

 and writer Izaak Walton

Izaak Walton

Izaak Walton was an English writer. Best known as the author of The Compleat Angler, he also wrote a number of short biographies which have been collected under the title of Walton's Lives.-Biography:...

had learned to fish.