Elton Reservoir was purpose-built in late Georgian times to supply water to the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal. It is now used primarily for sailing and angling, and is an important habitat for birdlife. The surrounding land has long been a place of recreation for local people, which led to a landmark mass trespass case in the early 1900s. Today, the much-loved green belt around it is under threat from huge housing developments.
The Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal opened in 1796 and it soon became apparent that its water supply was inadequate. Keeping a canal and its locks topped up was not an easy task, as there were always competing demands from mills for water. Accordingly, the MBB Canal Company tasked surveyor Hugh Henshall to find a suitable location for a supply reservoir. This resulted in a plan to construct a reservoir at Elton, and in 1802 adverts appeared requesting men to work as diggers.
The reservoir itself needed a reliable source of water. This resulted in the construction of an almost three-mile-long supply conduit, originating at the River Irwell weir at Burrs. The structure is still in place today, and has the appearance of a very narrow canal. It has a gravity-fed design, which means the water descends down a gradual slope all the way from Burrs to Elton.
By 1808, both the feeder conduit and Elton Reservoir (then known as the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal Reservoir) were completed. The reservoir was able to supply two million gallons of water a day to keep the canal water topped up.
By the 1830s, the canal company felt that Elton Reservoir was not sufficient to keep the canal full. Presumably, the increasing flow of traffic had put greater demands on the filling and emptying of locks. The company sought permission to get water from the newly built Turton and Entwistle Reservoir, and even looked at having a second purpose-built supply reservoir at Haslingden Grane (where Ogden Reservoir is today). Neither of these schemes came to fruition. Instead, Elton Reservoir was widened and deepened, with its main dam strengthened sometime in the early 1840s.
Angling on the Reservoir
In 1858, the agent of the landowner, the Earl of Wilton, received a letter from a group of professional men in Bury. They wrote asking for permission to stock the Elton Reservoir with fish as “Several Gentlemen of the Town… are anxious to have such a place of resort for themselves and their sons without having to go to distant places for a day’s Angling”. More worryingly for other locals, they stated that they wanted to appoint keepers to preserve the embankment and fences, while also preventing trespassers from doing damage to the land and crops around the reservoir. Permission was granted, and the popularity of the pastime grew over the years. Twenty years later, a clubhouse with a steward’s cottage was constructed. In keeping with the sexist mores of the time, women were barred from the establishment. However, the wider public could hire rowing boats to go out on the water, and lemonade was sold to passers-by.
A Mass Trespass
This growing popularity of the area with the public was not welcomed by all. The main embankment dam had been a popular place for families, friends and couples to walk up and down at the weekend. People also used it as a route to work during the week. In the early 1900s, the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company (who now owned the reservoir and canal) decided to put a stop to both these uses. They set up railway sleepers as barriers at either end of the embankment, barring all access to the public. In response, locals pulled them down, but the railway company re-erected them. This pattern continued for some time, before the protestors decided take legal advice and set up a fighting fund.
Pickstone Solicitors of Radcliffe were consulted. They suggested letters should be sent to both the railway company and police stating that if the barriers were re-erected, they would be dismantled. Eight brave men put their names and addresses on the document, and on an agreed date they assembled to remove the barriers, backed by a huge supportive crowd.
Their actions meant that on the 11th July 1904 they were summoned to Radcliffe Police Station. Their subsequent appearance at court saw the local magistrate rule that the embankment dam was a right of way. This meant that the men could not be convicted of malicious damage, the crime with which they had been charged.
However, the railway company appealed the case to the Manchester Assizes. At this second court, the jury found in favour of the eight men. However, this time the judge did not give an overall ruling in the case. The railway company then took the men to the Royal Courts of Justice in London. Here, a legal technicality meant that once again the eight men were found not guilty. Unbelievably, the railway company then appealed the case to the House of Lords. The Lord Chancellor ruled in the men’s favour once again. In all four courts of law the railway company was found to be blocking a legal right of way. The monetary costs to fight the case for the protestors had been very high, with many individuals and local businesses contributing to the fighting fund.
In celebration of this final victory, a huge dinner was held in honour of eight protesters at the Rams Head in Radcliffe. In an act of magnanimity, the railway company officials were invited to attend, which they did. William Senior, James Handley, James Yates, Jim Cowburn, John Davenport, Amos Jackson, John Lord and Abraham Whittles as the eight named protestors all received special commemorative medals. The secretary of the fighting fund was given a pair of binoculars, but only on the understanding he would not use them to watch courting couples around the reservoir!
The importance of the ruling – that public rights of way cannot be blocked by landowners – set a legal precedent. Lancashire has long been at the forefront of responsible access to the countryside, as in the case of the 1896 Winter Hill Trespass. For more information on this, see our page here. Sadly for the Bolton people involved, the outcome was not favourable, and some had to bear huge costs.
The campaign for wider access to the countryside continues today. Ninety percent of people in England want a Right to Roam equivalent to the one that has existed for over 20 years in Scotland. When the Labour Party stated it would bring one in if elected in 2024, the aggressive backlash from landowners and farmers regrettably led them to back down. In the interest of political balance, it must be stated that the Conservative Party have NEVER backed a Right to Roam, nor do they look like doing so in the future. See here and here if you would like to know more about the current campaign in England.
In 1936, there was a big landslip of the canal at Nob End, with the water breaching the side and cascading down the hillside into the River Irwell below. The huge breach was never repaired, which meant that the Bury arm of the canal was separated permanently from the rest of the network, (For more on this see our page on the Meccano Bridge here). However, both reservoir and canal were still used to supply factories in Radcliffe with water.
Expanding Leisure Use
In the 1950s, Elton Sailing Club was formed, with people using newly affordable wooden dinghies to go out on the water. The thriving fish population meant that match fishing began in the 1970s. Today, bream, pike, carp, tench and roach all live within the waters.
Keeping an Eye on the Dam
The reservoir, canal and feeder conduit from Burrs are all now owned and maintained by the Canal and Rivers Trust. With the reservoir covering 56 acres and having a capacity of 150 million gallons, the 600-metre-long reservoir dam is of particular importance. It has suffered from erosion and has had a number of small slips, the most recent occurring in 2012. Like many Georgian reservoir constructions, it has a puddle clay core which needs to be monitored, due to its age. This is not just a recent problem, as subsidence from coal mining meant that it had to be raised back in the 1800s Risk assessments on the dam and the input and output water valves for the reservoir have recently been carried out. This ensures that the surrounding countryside is kept safe from sudden flooding, especially after heavy rain.
Threats to the Green Belt
The surrounding green belt countryside around Elton Reservoir has long been a popular place for walkers and wildlife spotters. Mammals such as badger, otter, stoat, weasel, mink, bank vole, water shrew, brown hare, great crested and palmate newts have all been recorded. Many birds also frequent the reservoir and environs, including turnstone, sanderling, peregrine and cormorant.
However, there are plans to build 3,500 homes around the reservoir. The developers also want to construct primary schools, a large link road, a new metro link station at Warth Mill and a public park to the west of the reservoir. Existing residents are not happy, because although Elton Reservoir itself would be retained, much of the green space around it will be built over and lost forever. Local wildlife volunteers have provided a huge amount of evidence for the diverse habitats, plant and animal wildlife around the reservoir. For more on their work, search online for ‘Dave Bentley Elton Reservoir Wetlands’ to see a number of free pdf documents about their extensive surveys.
Today, there are lots of public footpaths and bridleways around Elton Reservoir, and these prove popular with the public. The route of the old Bury to Bolton railway line runs just to the north of the reservoir, and this is now a greenway for walkers and cyclists. For more about it, see our page here.
Site visited by A. and R. Bowden 2024
Access
Elton Reservoir can be reached from Buller Street, off Bolton Road. There is an unnamed road that runs off Buller Street towards the reservoir. There is free parking at the end of road. Do not go through the gates to the sailing club, as that car park is for members only.
Nearby
References
General
Reservoirs from Rivington to Rossendale, Norman Hoyle (1987) North West Water
Mass Trespass
burytimes.co.uk/news/18025297.looking-back-protesters-broke-barriers-made-legal-history/
Right to Roam
thebmc.co.uk/en/extending-the-right-to-roam-backed-by-survey-results
righttoroam.org.uk
ramblers.org.uk/what-we-care-about/freedom-to-roam
Dam Safety
icevirtuallibrary.com Elton Reservoir Slip
JPA7 Elton Reservoir Topic Paper PfE 2021 (online pdf)
elton Reservoir Dam Break and Flood Inundation HR wallingford (2018) online pdf
House Building Plans
peelland.co.uk/elton-reservoir
manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/controversial-500m-plans-build-staggering-26472038
Greenbelt
Elton Reservoir Basin Country Park Wetlands, Dave Bentley (lead author) (2022). Three reports available online as pdf files.
Lancashire Past 
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