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Chard Reservoir

Chard, SomersetLocal Nature Reserves in SomersetReservoirs in Somerset
Chard Reservoir geograph.org.uk 245020
Chard Reservoir geograph.org.uk 245020

Chard Reservoir is a 36.97-hectare (91.4-acre) reservoir north east of Chard Somerset, England. It is owned and managed by South Somerset District Council and is a recipient of the Green Flag Award.It was built on the river Isle in 1842 to provide water for the Chard Canal.It is a Local Nature Reserve. It is used for dog walking, fishing and birdwatching, with a bird hide having been installed. Birds which are spotted regularly include herons, egrets, kingfishers, cormorants, grebes, gulls, ducks and also a wide range of woodland birds such as nuthatch, treecreeper and woodpeckers. Rarities have included ring-necked duck, great white egret, cattle egret and yellow-browed warbler.The water is stocked with carp.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Chard Reservoir (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Chard Reservoir
Chaffcombe Lane,

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Latitude Longitude
N 50.884444444444 ° E -2.9427777777778 °
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Address

Chaffcombe Lane

Chaffcombe Lane
TA20 1RR , Chard Town
England, United Kingdom
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Chard Reservoir geograph.org.uk 245020
Chard Reservoir geograph.org.uk 245020
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Chard, Somerset
Chard, Somerset

Chard is a town and a civil parish in the English county of Somerset. It lies on the A30 road near the Devon and Dorset borders, 15 miles (24 km) south west of Yeovil. The parish has a population of approximately 14,000 and, at an elevation of 121 metres (397 ft), Chard is the southernmost and one of the highest towns in Somerset. Administratively Chard forms part of the district of South Somerset. The name of the town was Cerden in 1065 and Cerdre in the Domesday Book of 1086. After the Norman Conquest, Chard was held by the Bishop of Wells. The town's first charter was from King John in 1234. Most of the town was destroyed by fire in 1577, and it was further damaged during the English Civil War. A 1663 will by Richard Harvey of Exeter established Almshouses known as Harvey's Hospital. In 1685 during the Monmouth Rebellion, the pretender Duke of Monmouth was proclaimed King in the Town prior to his defeat on Sedgemoor. Chard subsequently witnessed the execution and traitor's death of 12 condemned rebels, who, tried by Judge Jeffreys, were hanged near the present Tesco roundabout. The Chard Canal was a tub boat canal built between 1835 and 1842. Chard Branch Line was created in 1860 to connect the two London and South Western Railway and Bristol and Exeter Railway main lines and ran through Chard until 1965. The town has a very unusual feature, a stream running along either side of Fore Street. One stream eventually flows into the Bristol Channel and the other reaches the English Channel. Chard Reservoir, approximately a mile north east of the town, is a Local Nature Reserve, and Snowdon Hill Quarry a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest. Major employers in the town include Numatic International Limited. There are a range of sporting and cultural facilities, with secondary education being provided at Holyrood Academy; religious sites including the Church of St Mary the Virgin, which dates from the late 11th century.

Fore Street, Chard
Fore Street, Chard

Fore Street in Chard, Somerset, England was built in the late 16th and early 17th century, following a fire which destroyed much of the town in 1577.Fore Street is a main shopping street and thoroughfare with open water channels on either side. Local folklore claims that one stream eventually flows into the Bristol Channel and the other reaches the English Channel. This situation changed when the tributary of the Axe was diverted into the Isle; the gutter in Holyrood Street, though, still flows into the River Axe and therefore it is still true it lies on the watershed and that two gutters eventually drain into the Bristol Channel and the English Channel.Numbers 7A,7B,9,11,13 & 13A Waterloo House and Manor Court House have been designated as Grade I listed buildings. They are now on the Heritage at Risk Register. The Hamstone Waterloo House and Manor Court House were built in the late 16th or early 17th century. The history of the buildings is complex and not fully understood, although it is known that it was used as a court house at various periods. Worries about the condition of the buildings, and others in the row from 7 to 13 Fore Street, and the need for their preservation. has been expressed throughout the 20th century.In 2010 when the Manor Court House, where Charles I signed a peace declaration during the English Civil War, was added to the Heritage at Risk Register one local trader complained that not enough was being done to maintain and conserve the building. Waterloo Court was built in the 16th century as a house, it has since been converted into a shop with a flat above it. In 1834 the Guildhall was built with a doric portico with a double row of Tuscan columns along the front. It was built to replace an earlier 16th century guildhall and now serves as the town hall.Chard Museum is housed in a 16th-century thatched building which was originally four cottages. The building was converted and restored for use as a museum in 1970, and later incorporated the building next door which had been the New Inn public house. It houses collections of exhibits about local history and displays related to the lives of notable local residents. The L-shaped school building was built in 1583 as a private house and converted into Chard Grammar School in 1671. It was damaged in the fire if 1727. It is a Grade II* listed building. In 1890 it became a boarding school and then in 1972 a preparatory school. Monmouth House, which was built between 1770 and 1790, and the 16th century chapel, are also now part of the school.Pubs include the Dolphin Inn, which was built in 1840 and the George Hotel which was constructed in the late 18th century. The Wesleyan Methodist Chapel was built in 1895 from Flemish bond brick.The branch of Lloyds Bank was built as a house on the site of the Chard Arms Hotel in 1849. The branch of National Westminster Bank was two houses when it was constructed around 1820. In 1938 a bomb proof bunker was built behind the branch of the Westminster Bank. During World War II it was used to hold duplicate copies of the bank records in case its headquarters in London was destroyed. It was also used to store the emergency bank note supply of the Bank of England. There has also been speculation that the Crown Jewels were also stored there, however this has never been confirmed. In 1991 the town council commissioned bronze sculpture from Neville Gabie which were erected in Fore Street they are entitled Ball and Whirl. An album detailing the work and its commissioning is held by the Chard Museum.