Seathwaite Tarn

Seathwaite Tarn dam
Seathwaite Tarn dam
Dam and spillways
Height	9 m (30 ft)
Length	138 m (453 ft)

Seathwaite Tarn
Seathwaite Tarn
	Seathwaite Tarn
Location	Lake District
Coordinates	54°22′44.66″N3°9′17.83″W / 54.3790722°N 3.1549528°W Coordinates: 54°22′44.66″N3°9′17.83″W / 54.3790722°N 3.1549528°W
Type	reservoir
Primary inflows	Tarn Head Beck, Near Gill, Far Gill, Bleaberry Gill
Primary outflows	Tarn Beck
Basin countries	United Kingdom
Surface area	66 acres (267,093 m2)
Max. depth	80 feet (24 m)
Water volume	2,945,000 m3 (104,000,000 cu ft)
Surface elevation	1,200 feet (366 m)
References

Last updated January 18, 2023

Seathwaite Tarn is a reservoir in the Furness Fells within the English Lake District. It is located to the south of Grey Friar and to the west of Brim Fell (on the ridge between The Old Man of Coniston and Swirl How) and north east of the village of Seathwaite on the east of the Duddon Valley.

In order to create a source of drinking water the existing tarn was considerably enlarged with a dam in 1904. During the dam construction some of the navvies rioted damaging buildings in the village, several rioters were shot, one dying the next day.^[2]

The dam is almost 400 yards (366 m) long and is concrete cored with slate buttresses, the resulting depth of the tarn being around 80 feet (24 m). Water is not abstracted directly from the tarn, but flows some distance downriver to an off-take weir.

On the slopes of Brim Fell, above the head of the reservoir, are the remains of Seathwaite Tarn Mine. This was worked for copper in the mid 19th century, and also appears as a location in the novel The Plague Dogs by Richard Adams. Rocks in the area were the first confirmed occurrence of wittichenite in the British Isles.^[3]

Bronze Age ring cairns were found close to Seathwaite Tarn in 2003, these were excavated in 2003 and 2007.^[4]

Seathwaite Tarn has suffered from acidification. An experiment in 1992–1993 to reduce the acidification by using a phosphorus-based fertiliser increased the pH from 5.1 to 5.6 and changed the levels of the different species of the rotifer assemblage significantly.^[5]

Repair and reconstruction

A statutory inspection was completed by the All Reservoir Panel Engineer in January 2007 during which the Panel Engineer recommended that works be carried out to the concrete face of the dam and that additional measures be implemented to prevent further deterioration of the concrete. Following this recommendation, United Utilities commissioned MWH to undertake works to improve the condition of the existing concrete dams and to help to implement recommendations to ensure that the reservoir would meet the requirements for a Category A reservoir.^[6]

Work began in 2010, when the downstream face of the main dam was cleaned and loose concrete, efflorescence and other surface deposits were removed. The concrete face was then protected from further deterioration by using a cementitious repair mortar and siloxane waterproofer. The remedial works on the upstream face included the installation of a PVC geocomposite membrane, geonet drainage layer and associated drainage system to the upstream face of the main dam and the auxiliary overflow. The geomembrane is sealed on the concrete face along the foundation line and on the parapet wall 300 mm above the crest level to cover the joint between the upstream face and the parapet wall. The geomembrane covers a total surface area of 1,100m².^[6]

A Geomembrane drainage system was incorporated into the design to discharge water through 3 holes in the dam. Joints and cracks in the concrete were treated with an acrylic resin where the perimeter seal crosses the joint to prevent reservoir water bypassing the perimeter seal. A reinforced concrete wave wall was constructed to the same dimensions and levels as the existing but it extended into the high ground at the left and right ends of the dam. Finally, riprap erosion protection was laid at the left hand end of the dam to arrest erosion of the embankment. The material for the erosion protection was sourced from the reservoir basin.^[6]

Related Research Articles

The Old Man of Coniston is a fell in the Furness Fells in the Cumbria, English Lake District and is the highest point of the historic county of Lancashire. It is at least 2,632.62 feet (802.42 m) high, and lies to the west of the village of Coniston and the lake, Coniston Water. The fell is sometimes known by the alternative name of Coniston Old Man, or simply The Old Man. The mountain is popular with tourists and fell-walkers with a number of well-marked paths to the summit. The mountain has also seen extensive copper and slate mining activity for eight hundred years, and the remains of abandoned mines and spoil tips are a significant feature of the north-east slopes.

Pavey Ark is a fell in the English county of Cumbria. It is one of the Langdale Pikes, lying to the north of Great Langdale, in the heart of the Lake District, immediately to the north-east of Harrison Stickle.

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Holme Fell or Holm Fell is a fell in the Lake District in Cumbria, England. It is located between Coniston Water and Little Langdale, almost isolated from the neighbouring Coniston Fells by Yewdale Beck.

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The Furness Fells are a multitude of hills and mountains in the Furness region of Cumbria, England. Historically part of Lancashire, the Furness Fells or High Furness is the name given to the upland part of Furness, that is, that part of Furness lying north of the line between Ulverston and Ireleth. The hills lie largely within the English Lake District.

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Wetherlam is a mountain in the English Lake District. It is the most northerly of the Coniston Fells, the range of fells to the north-west of Coniston village; its north-east slopes descend to Little Langdale.

Swirl How is a fell in the English Lake District. It stands between Coniston and the Duddon Valley in the southern part of the District. It rivals the Old Man of Coniston as the highest point within the traditional County Palatine of Lancashire.

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Seathwaite is a village in the Duddon Valley in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria in North West England. Historically in Lancashire, it lies within the Lake District National Park, and is part of the civil parish of Dunnerdale-with-Seathwaite, which has a population of 129. The nearby Seathwaite Tarn, west of the Coniston Fells, takes its name from the village. The village is north east of Hall Dunnerdale and south west of the tarn. It lies along the old Walna Scar road, which can be reached from the A595 in the south, or from the steep Hardknott–Wrynose pass road in the north, which leads off the A593 from Skelwith Bridge).

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Levers Water is a small lake in the English Lake District. It is located at the head of the Coppermines Valley, above Coniston village. To its south-west is Raven Tor, a spur of Brim Fell, and to its north-west are Little How Crags and Great How Crags, on the eastern side of the north–south ridge leading to Swirl How.

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References

1 2 3 "Seathwaite Tarn". The Lake District Wiki. Archived from the original on 20 May 2009. Retrieved 3 August 2009.^{[ unreliable source? ]}^{[ dead link ]}
↑ "Navvyman chapter 4". Navvyman. Coracle Press/Victorianweb. 1983. Retrieved 3 August 2009.
↑ C. J. STANLEY; A. J. CRIDDLE (March 1979). "Mineralization at Seathwaite Tarn, near Coniston, English Lake District: The first occurrence of wittichenite in Great Britain" (PDF). Mineralogical Magazine. 43 (325): 103–107. Bibcode:1979MinM...43..103S. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.601.5508 . doi:10.1180/minmag.1979.043.325.06. S2CID 53388650. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 May 2016. Retrieved 3 August 2009.
↑ "Seathwaite Tarn excavation". Lake District National ark website. National Parks. 2007. Archived from the original on 4 July 2009. Retrieved 3 August 2009.
↑ May, Linda (November 1995). "The effect of lake fertilisation on the rotifers of Seathwaite Tarn, an acidified lake in the English Lake District". Hydrobiologia . 313–314 (1): 333–340. doi:10.1007/BF00025966. S2CID 1488592.
1 2 3 "Seathwaite Tarn reservoir" (PDF). Water Projects Online. 2012. Retrieved 5 May 2013.

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[LDW-1] 1 2 3 "Seathwaite Tarn". The Lake District Wiki. Archived from the original on 20 May 2009. Retrieved 3 August 2009.^{[ unreliable source? ]}^{[ dead link ]}

[Nav-2] "Navvyman chapter 4". Navvyman. Coracle Press/Victorianweb. 1983. Retrieved 3 August 2009.

[Wit-3] C. J. STANLEY; A. J. CRIDDLE (March 1979). "Mineralization at Seathwaite Tarn, near Coniston, English Lake District: The first occurrence of wittichenite in Great Britain" (PDF). Mineralogical Magazine. 43 (325): 103–107. Bibcode:1979MinM...43..103S. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.601.5508 . doi:10.1180/minmag.1979.043.325.06. S2CID 53388650. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 May 2016. Retrieved 3 August 2009.

[Exc-4] "Seathwaite Tarn excavation". Lake District National ark website. National Parks. 2007. Archived from the original on 4 July 2009. Retrieved 3 August 2009.

[Acid-5] May, Linda (November 1995). "The effect of lake fertilisation on the rotifers of Seathwaite Tarn, an acidified lake in the English Lake District". Hydrobiologia . 313–314 (1): 333–340. doi:10.1007/BF00025966. S2CID 1488592.

[Repairs-6] 1 2 3 "Seathwaite Tarn reservoir" (PDF). Water Projects Online. 2012. Retrieved 5 May 2013.

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