Find out more about Gaddings Dam at http://www.gaddingsdam.org.uk/

Gaddings Dam is a disused reservoir on the Pennines above Todmorden, West Yorkshire.  Dating from the reign of William IV (1830-37), and boasting the highest sandy beach in England, Gaddings was threatened with drainage in 1999, and was only saved through the efforts of the Gaddings Dam Group, who formed the Gaddings Dam Preservation Company Limited.  Through the Company, the Group has purchased and repaired the Dam, and now maintains it in a safe condition for the people of Todmorden.

Gaddings Dam: History and Technical Overview

From what we can gather, Gaddings Dam West was built in 1835 by local mill-owners the Fielden Brothers (including the radical MP for Oldham, John Fielden) to supply water to the mills of Lumbutts (the Fieldens' own Lumbutts and Causeway Mills, and Greenwood's and Jumble Mills owned respectively by the Greenwoods and Uttleys). It would seem that it was built a little later than the now empty dam that lies to its east side (Gaddings Dam East), which was built by the Rochdale Canal Company to supply water to the newly-opened canal in the Calder Valley below.  There has been some suggestion that Gaddings Dam West was built using convict labour from Manchester, a theory that certainly gains credibility from the existence of a quarry called ‘Jail Hole’ just to the north of the Dam’s northern-most wall (although see Origins of the Name Gaddings at www.gaddingsdam.org.uk).  The convicts used are most likely to have come from Salford House of Correction.

Note: I have been researching the early history of the Dam, and have uncovered considerable information about its origins, the engineers who built it (Jeremiah Jackson and John Backer) and its role in the broader scheme of industrial water supply in the Lumbutts area.  More information about this research can be found at www.gaddingsdam.org.uk.

A local engineer, Richard Stansfield, reported that the Dam was empty in the 1940s after the ‘authorities’ (presumably the forerunner of Calderdale Council) disabled the valve in the culvert in the north west wall.  Richard, with the assistance of his son Alan, permanently sealed the valve inlet pipe (the ‘upstream’ inlet), thus enabling the Dam to fill again.  The Dam was sold in 1981 by its then owner, a descendent of the Fieldens, and Gaddings Dam West lay relatively forgotten until North West Water noticed it dangerously full in the winter of 1999, and instigated the chain of events that led to the formation of the Gaddings Dam Preservation Company. 

The Reservoirs Act 1975 covers all artificially raised water catchment facilities with a capacity of 25,000m³ or greater.  With a capacity of approximately 100,000m³ and a surface area of nearly 2 hectares, Gaddings Dam West falls squarely in its remit, and the Act places strict responsibilities on the Gaddings Dam Preservation Company as owners (or ‘undertakers’, to use the legal term).  The greatest of these is the responsibility to appoint a supervising engineer to inspect the Dam periodically and instruct the Company in terms of maintenance and repair work.  From this point of view, the Company has been especially fortunate, in that an All Reservoirs Panel Engineer has donated his time to act as the Dam’s Supervising Engineer, and carries out regular site inspections and provides technical assistance to the Group.

The Dam’s construction, with a central waterproof membrane surrounded by stone dressed earth embankments, is typical of its time.  The Dam type is known as a ‘pipeline and culvert’, in that the valve is set deep in the dam wall, close to the waterproof membrane. Access to the valve is through a culvert running from the outer point of the embankment (the ‘downstream toe’) into the middle of the embankment itself, with water being discharged through a cast iron pipe along the culvert bottom.   This design was discontinued in about 1850, some 17 years after Gaddings Dam had been built.

The valve itself might be the original one, and is an early gate valve which would have had a control wheel set a foot or so above the main valve housing.  This has been removed (the stub of its threaded rod can still be seen protruding from the top of the valve housing), and all that remains of the control mechanism are the two uprights that would have originally supported the valve’s handwheel.  It is possible that this valve is itself a replacement for an even earlier ‘penstock’ gate valve, but further research will be needed to be sure of this.