The building of reservoirs in England and Wales was key to urban growth across the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, with the management of waterworks projects closely tied to the social and economic fortunes of rural areas, as well as the treatment of urban populations. Drawing on methods from environmental history, cultural history and historical geography, this 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. It examines how reservoirs transformed the rural environment, the management of the urban-rural hinterland, the development of cultural landscapes, the expansion of novel leisure activities, and the social impact on local communities.

Incorporating case studies from Leeds’s Washburn Valley, Liverpool’s Vyrnwy Reservoir and Birmingham’s Elan Reservoir, amongst others, the book’s comparative approach highlights commonalities and differences in waterworks management across the country, thereby transforming our understanding of the national water industry during this period, contemporary attitudes to the environment, and the identities – civic, gender and professional – that were intertwined with these waterscapes.