1. The History
The history about this place is rather scant, but then again, hardly surprising as it’s a fairly small place in the grand scheme of things. Beautifully located in the Peak District in Derbyshire, just outside of Buxton, the pumping plant was built by The Buxton Corporation Water Works (BCWW) was built in 1957 to service the now decommissioned Stanley Moor reservoir to the south-west. The two-storey building which has a yellow stone frontage and brick infill panels at the back has clearly been closed for some time.
Stanley Moor Reservoir was a small, rectangular, impounding structure, formed on three sides by earth embankments and founded partly on limestone and partly on millstone grits. The inside was lined with puddle clay with a protective layer of masonry pitching. The reservoir’s principal feeds were two nearby streams, to the west and to the north. The flow was intercepted and directed through aqueducts to the intake chute, by the operation of “leaping weir” sluices.
The reservoir had been built on a problematic geological fault-line. Its location where limestone and millstone grit met resulted in a high rate of leakage from the reservoir and despite the aforementioned clay lining. Despite investigations, the problem couldn’t be rectified. In initially the water level was reduced by ten feet, and in 1946 the dam was breached in favour of a low-level weir channel reducing the capacity from 450,000 to 275,000 cubic metres. It’s unclear when the dam was decommissioned but when it was the water works would have then been surplus to requirements.
2. The Explore
This place has cropped up a few times this year. It’s a bit off-the-beaten-track in a beautiful location but pretty easy access. Despite this it’s had its fair share of visits from several esteemed graff artists and the less-esteemed metal fairies have also paid this place a few visits too. Sadly, some idiots have smashed the place up a bit and lit small fires. Despite this it’s well worth a visit and an hour of so of your time.
3. The Pictures
Viewed from the main road looking towards Stanley Reservoir:
img9972 by HughieDW, on Flickr
We had really lovely light the morning we visited:
img9974 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img0017 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Welcomed by a nice bit of Coloquix:
img9976 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Not sure of the artist who did this:
img9977 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Or this:
img9978 by HughieDW, on Flickr
In we go:
img0015 by HughieDW, on Flickr
BCWW 12 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img9987 by HughieDW, on Flickr
BCWW 05 by HughieDW, on Flickr
BCWW 11 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Love this piece of art:
BCWW 03 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Roof shot:
img9985 by HughieDW, on Flickr
And on to the main hall:
img0013 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img9990 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img9991 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img0003 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img0007 by HughieDW, on Flickr
BCWW 07 by HughieDW, on Flickr
And more graff by this chap:
img9992 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img9993 by HughieDW, on Flickr
BCWW 09 by HughieDW, on Flickr
And on to the room at the back of the works:
img9994 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img9995 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img9998 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img9996 by HughieDW, on Flickr
And another bit of Coloquix on the way out:
BCWW 13 by HughieDW, on Flickr
The history about this place is rather scant, but then again, hardly surprising as it’s a fairly small place in the grand scheme of things. Beautifully located in the Peak District in Derbyshire, just outside of Buxton, the pumping plant was built by The Buxton Corporation Water Works (BCWW) was built in 1957 to service the now decommissioned Stanley Moor reservoir to the south-west. The two-storey building which has a yellow stone frontage and brick infill panels at the back has clearly been closed for some time.
Stanley Moor Reservoir was a small, rectangular, impounding structure, formed on three sides by earth embankments and founded partly on limestone and partly on millstone grits. The inside was lined with puddle clay with a protective layer of masonry pitching. The reservoir’s principal feeds were two nearby streams, to the west and to the north. The flow was intercepted and directed through aqueducts to the intake chute, by the operation of “leaping weir” sluices.
The reservoir had been built on a problematic geological fault-line. Its location where limestone and millstone grit met resulted in a high rate of leakage from the reservoir and despite the aforementioned clay lining. Despite investigations, the problem couldn’t be rectified. In initially the water level was reduced by ten feet, and in 1946 the dam was breached in favour of a low-level weir channel reducing the capacity from 450,000 to 275,000 cubic metres. It’s unclear when the dam was decommissioned but when it was the water works would have then been surplus to requirements.
2. The Explore
This place has cropped up a few times this year. It’s a bit off-the-beaten-track in a beautiful location but pretty easy access. Despite this it’s had its fair share of visits from several esteemed graff artists and the less-esteemed metal fairies have also paid this place a few visits too. Sadly, some idiots have smashed the place up a bit and lit small fires. Despite this it’s well worth a visit and an hour of so of your time.
3. The Pictures
Viewed from the main road looking towards Stanley Reservoir:
We had really lovely light the morning we visited:
Welcomed by a nice bit of Coloquix:
Not sure of the artist who did this:
Or this:
In we go:
Love this piece of art:
Roof shot:
And on to the main hall:
And more graff by this chap:
And on to the room at the back of the works:
And another bit of Coloquix on the way out:
