The building of reservoirs in England and Wales was key to urban growth across the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. Management of waterworks projects was closely tied to the social and economic fortunes of rural areas, as well as the treatment of urban populations.
In this post, Andrew McTominey introduces his new book—Waterscapes: Reservoirs, Environment and Identity in Modern England and Wales—which is published in the Society’s ‘New Historical Perspectives’ series with University of London Press.
Drawing on methods from environmental history, cultural history and historical geography, Andrew’s book explores the multiple and long-term impacts of reservoir construction and management in rural England and Wales from the mid-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century.
Waterscapes is the 23rd title in the Society’s New Historical Perspectives series for early career historians. Andrew’s book, and other titles in the series are published free, Open Access, and in paperback print.
On 8 July 2025, Yorkshire Water confirmed that a hosepipe ban would be brought into effect due to a lack of rainfall during the driest and warmest spring on record.
They were subsequently followed by South East Water, Southern Water, and the ever-embattled Thames Water as water companies struggled to deal with demand. As of July, reservoir levels in Yorkshire were at 56%, significantly lower than the average of 82% for this time of year.
Not long after the Environment Agency first declared drought across Yorkshire in June, the UK government gave the go-ahead to construct two new reservoirs, fast-tracking Fens Reservoir in East Anglia and Lincolnshire Reservoir by marking them as ‘nationally significant’ projects, thereby streamlining the planning process. These are due to be the first two of nine new reservoirs completed by 2050 to help alleviate water supply pressures following thirty years of inaction.
A cynic would say that these news items developed just late enough into 2025 so as to make the introduction to my new book, Waterscapes, slightly outdated.
A more rational response would be to suggest that, as drought is a socio-technical phenomena influenced as much by human activity as by weather patterns, these news items show the continued value of assessing the multifaceted impact of reservoirs, the main purpose of Waterscapes.
The water industry today is very different to the one encountered at the end of Waterscapes, which finishes before 1973 and the implementation of Regional Water Boards, a precursor to regionalised private water companies.
Water supply was still very locally focused, despite the claims of newer reservoir projects like Rutland Water that were conceived as helping to solve national problems. Even in cases where municipal authorities had not taken control of supply, as in Newcastle or Bristol, the focus was still on the local rather than the regional or the national.
Waterworks from the nineteenth century until the 1970s were imbued with a strong sense of civic identity.
As such, waterworks from the nineteenth century until the 1970s were imbued with a strong sense of civic identity: they were examples of the scientific and technological prowess of the city to overcome the obstacles of nature and provide for the residents of the city.
This sense of civic identity is one of the key arguments of Waterscapes, which can be seen not just in the construction of reservoirs themselves (as I discuss in Chapter 1) but in how they were used to develop afforestation schemes (Chapter 3), altered the aesthetic of the countryside (Chapter 4), and the development of leisure for urban residents (Chapter 5).
It is possible, though, to see this highly localised picture increasingly through a national lens.
Waterworks and reservoirs schemes did not emerge in vacuums. In the nineteenth century, prominent water engineers such as Thomas Hawksley or J.F. La Trobe Bateman worked for several different cities. Over time, engineers instituted organisations to discuss and debate knowledge and expertise more readily.
City leaders looked to one another for examples of best practice: Liverpool became an exemplar when it came to efforts to afforest their reservoirs (Chapter 3)—not just to protect the watershed from pollution but also to provide a source of income for the city. Similarly, the technology of water management became more standardised: from earthen-embankment dams that provided the appearance of natural lakes to masonry dams which enabled much larger catchment areas that were more obvious intrusions into the landscape.
Thruscross dam wall shortly after completion, Washburn Valley, Yorkshire: image held by the Washburn Heritage Centre, Fewston, Harrogate.
Reservoirs became sites of active citizenship where class tensions, as to who should and should not have access, to the countryside played out.
The local and national importance of different reservoir projects is not the only notable aspect of waterworks development. The environmental impact is hard to overstate, with reservoir construction having unforeseen circumstances in several instances (Chapter 2). Reservoirs became sites of active citizenship where class tensions, as to who should and should not have access, to the countryside played out.
In the case of Fewston village in the Washburn Valley, residents were displaced after construction ended due to subsequent land subsidence.
Another undeniable impact was upon local communities. It is easy, and in some cases correct, to see reservoirs as having a negative impact on local communities: villages were flooded with local people sometimes displaced. In the case of Fewston village in the Washburn Valley, residents were displaced after construction ended due to subsequent land subsidence.
Equally, the impact to communities could be more positive, from moving to better housing to new opportunities for employment and the chance for rural life to continue. The uneven nature of these experiences is important to examine, especially given the difficult nature of some of the examples drawn upon from Wales. Schemes at Lake Vyrnwy in the nineteenth century and Capel Celyn in the twentieth brought the politics of using Welsh uplands to supply English cities with water to the foreground.
Cross-section of the eastward dam, Thruscross, with workers, 1960s: image held by the Washburn Heritage Centre, Fewston, Harrogate.
It goes without saying that reservoirs are enormously impactful projects, affecting place and people.
Local communities can feel this impact before construction begins, while environmental legacies are sometimes not felt for many years after. In Waterscapes, my aim is to offer a more holistic analysis of reservoir development in England and Wales, one that examines the reciprocal hinterland exchange between city and countryside, thereby showing how interconnected our landscapes are.
Across the principal examples I study, the common experience makes clear the dangers—as well as the potential—for waterworks development in Britain’s past. With the announcements of June 2025, these are impacts that will once again be coming to the fore.
About the author
Andrew McTominey is an independent scholar who has previously worked at Leeds Beckett University, the University of Huddersfield, and the University of Leeds.
Andrew gained his PhD from Leeds Beckett University in 2019, with a historical study of the impact of waterwork construction in the Washburn Valley, where reservoirs were built for Leeds. Waterscapes is his first book. He now works in the heritage sector and is a Visiting Research Fellow at Manchester Metropolitan University.
About the ‘New Historical Perspectives’ book series from the Royal Historical Society
New Historical Perspectives (NHP) is the Society’s book series for early career scholars (within ten years of their doctorate), commissioned and edited by the Royal Historical Society, in association with University of London Press and the Institute of Historical Research, and with support from the Economic History Society.
The series publishes monographs and edited collections by early career historians on all chronologies and histories, worldwide. Contracted authors receive mentoring and an author workshop to develop their manuscript before its final submission.
All titles in the series are published in paperback print and Open Access (as pdf downloads and Manifold reading editions) with costs covered by University of London Press and the Royal Historical Society.
Waterscapes: Reservoirs, Environment and Identity in Modern England and Wales is the 23rd volume published in the series (August 2025). For more on current and forthcoming titles in the series, for 2025, please see here.
HEADER IMAGE: Photo of Pontsticill Reservoir, Powys Wales, iStock, EyeEm Mobile GmbH
