Home to remarkable Victorian engineering
The reservoir was constructed at the end of the 19th century. It provides water for Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Gateshead and is surrounded by native and conifer woodlands and moorland.
Visit the last remaining dwelling on the site restored to its original condition and containing many artefacts of the period, and also visit the church and school which were paramount to the lives of the workers of the Newcastle & Gateshead Water Company and their families. Then, take a short, pleasant stroll through the woodland past the spillway to the Dam to view the reservoir passing some remarkable Victorian engineering on the way.
Here you be lucky enough to see golden plover and dunlin, buzzards, ospreys and there is the occasional record of a golden eagle. Mammals that live here include otters, red squirrels, badgers, roe deer and bats.
