Elan Valley Reservoirs, Rhayader

Name: Elan Valley Reservoirs
Address: Rhayader, United Kingdom

#3 among attractions in Rhayader

Lake, Dam

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Facts and practical information

The Elan Valley Reservoirs are a chain of man-made lakes created from damming the Elan and Claerwen rivers within the Elan Valley in Mid Wales. The reservoirs, which were built by the Birmingham Corporation Water Department, provide clean drinking water for Birmingham in the West Midlands of England. The five lakes are known as the Claerwen, Craig-goch, Pen-y-garreg, Garreg-ddu, and Caban-coch. ()

Built: 1893 (132 years ago)Length: 3.67 miWidth: 1640 ftMaximum depth: 184 ftElevation: 1224 ft a.s.l.Coordinates: 52°16'20"N, 3°41'20"W

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Rhayader United Kingdom

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Day trips

Elan Valley Reservoirs – popular in the area (distance from the attraction)

Nearby attractions include: Claerwen, Elan aqueduct, Drygarn Fawr, Elan Valley.

~760 ftE
Nature, Natural attraction, Lake
Claerwen
4 min walk • The Claerwen reservoir and dam in Powys, Wales, were the last additions to the Elan Valley Reservoirs system built to provide water for the increasing water demand of the city of Birmingham and the West Midlands.
3.9 miE
Aqueduct
Elan aqueduct
100 min walk • The Elan aqueduct crosses Wales and the Midlands of England, running eastwards from the Elan Valley Reservoirs in Mid Wales to Birmingham's Frankley Reservoir, carrying drinking water for Birmingham.
4.3 miS
Nature, Natural attraction, Mountain
Drygarn Fawr
109 min walk • Drygarn Fawr is a mountain in the county of Powys, Wales. It is one of the highest summits in Mid Wales standing at 645 metres or 2114 feet above sea level. It lies to the south of the Elan Valley Reservoirs.
4.3 miE
Nature, Natural attraction, Valley
Elan Valley
110 min walk • The Elan Valley is a river valley situated to the west of Rhayader, in Powys, Wales, sometimes known as the "Welsh Lake District". It covers 70 square miles of lake and countryside.
3 miNW
Nature, Natural attraction, Mountain
Desert of Wales
77 min walk • The Desert of Wales, or Green Desert of Wales, is a large area in central Wales, so called because of its lack of roads and towns and its inaccessibility. The term was invented by English travel writers in the nineteenth century and has no equivalent in the Welsh language.
7.2 miNW
Church
Eglwys Newydd Church, Devil's Bridge
185 min walk • Eglwys Newydd Church is an early 19th-century church which replaced a previous chapel of ease. The chapel of ease was originally at Trisant but was moved to this site around 1620 by the Herbert family, owners of the Hafod estate.
4.3 miS
Nature, Natural attraction, Mountain
Gorllwyn
109 min walk • Gorllwyn is a subsidiary summit of Drygarn Fawr, located on a remote moorland plateau of the Cambrian Mountains. The summit is grassy and is surrounded by peat bog. There is a shelter cairn and a trig point.
4.8 miNW
Nature, Natural attraction, Mountain
Llan Ddu Fawr
124 min walk • Llan Ddu Fawr or Waun Claerddu is one of the highest summits in Ceredigion, Wales, at 594 metres. It is located about 10 miles south of Pumlumon. The surrounding land can be very boggy. There is a trig point at the summit, but this is not the highest point. The peak is located within the region known as the Desert of Wales.