Victorian engineers took pride in their work … the bits you can’t see as well as the bits that you can. For evidence, look at the half million bricks lining the interior of Nottingham’s grass-covered Belle Vue Reservoir.
It’s a sight usually enjoyed only by Severn Trent Water personnel … and even then, only once every ten years as its two giant receptacles get the water industry equivalent of an MOT.
The latest inspection takes place this summer, for which the reservoir has been drained. So accurate were the 19-century engineers in creating a slight city-leaning gradient on the reservoir floor that barely a puddle was left behind as technical staff began their work.
“I have seen quite a few reservoirs but this one is a bit special,” says Andy Wibberley, team manager (operations) with Severn Trent, in the gloom of the older and smaller of the two chambers. “It was built in 1851 with a life of 100 years in mind, but it is still in very good condition. They knew what they were doing.”
Belle Vue Reservoir? Precisely where is that? Countless Nottingham people will not know because the hilltop complex, with views to the Victoria Centre, lies off the beaten track. It is approached on foot via the grand pedestrian avenue known as Corporation Oaks. One entrance is in Cranmer Street and the other in Woodborough Road.
At the top of the hill is a raised earthwork. It is not open to the public. But if, like the Post, you do get an invitation to go underground, nothing will prepare you for the experience.
After confirming that you have had no recent gastric illnesses, and stepping through a tray of chlorine disinfectant, you are shown down a steep flight of stairs and on to the reservoir floor. The precautions are important for a complex that will supply water to 150,000 people in 38,000 properties in the central, southern and eastern areas of Nottingham.
Torches flash and you discover what could be cathedral vaults, with brick floor and walls and brick pillars with arches supporting a brickwork ceiling. It’s not quite as grand as the reservoir attached to Papplewick Pumping Station – another showpiece of Victorian architecture – but it is magnificent all the same.
Belle Vue, receiving water from central Notts boreholes and the Derwent Valley open reservoirs, is a stand-by 2.5-million-litre supply for Nottingham. It was called upon during the recent heatwave when the city’s demand for water soared, said Severn Trent Water reservoir programme technician Ciara Slater.
“We will be doing remedial work over five weeks,” said Ciara. “We will clean it, refill it and then do a series of tests on the water.”
The structure will be tested for stresses and the walls power-cleansed to remove iron and manganese stains. Aside from those, the brickwork looks immaculate, with no repointing necessary.
In the mid-19 century, a clean, reliable water supply was urgently needed for the fast-growing industrial town, with its filthy slums and overcrowding. Who better for the task than Arnold-born Thomas Hawksley, a nationally renowned champion of pressurised supply, which aimed to ensure constant water on demand.
His Belle Vue Reservoir, designed by Robert Jalland, cost £8,000 … which 166 years on is the price of half a dozen combi-boilers.
The Nottingham Date Book, published in 1884, recorded: “It was formed by a deep square excavation being made in the centre of the table land at the summit of the hill, within which good solid walls of brickwork were constructed, 160 feet long and 80 feet wide.
“Then in parallel rows were raised shafts of masonry, along which were turned no less than 288 arches, which entirely cover the whole reservoir, with the exception of two trap doors for the purpose of ingress and egress.
“The floor was puddled with soft clay, on which was laid a layer of bricks. To a spectator the interior presents the appearance of a cellar of interminable extent with brick arches overhead. The height within from the floor of the arches to the roof is 12 feet.”
Next on the Severn Trent “to-do” list is inspecting and cleaning the larger adjoining reservoir at Belle Vue. Built in 1864 it has a capacity of seven million litres.
First things first, however. “Once the smaller reservoir has been cleaned and filled there will be two weeks of sampling,” said Andy Wibberley. “Once the bacteriological tests are done and everyone is happy we will be good to go.”
And if all goes well, the reservoir interior will remain unseen until 2027.