Smalley Common Res
Smalley Common Reservoir
Built 1906 90,000 gallons capacity.
From 1955 History of Shardlow RDC Water Undertaking by F Haynes. Prior to 1905 inhabitants of Stanley and West Hallam depended for water on springs and shallow wells, but when the Stanley Pit shaft was put down by the Mapperley Colliery Company, water in the shallow wells disappeared. The excess water encountered in the Pit shaft was pumped into the Stanley Brook from where people who had lost their supply had to fetch it. The quantity of water pumped from the colliery shaft was assessed at 250,000 gallons per day. It was now necessary for a reliable water supply to be provided for the Stanley and West Hallam sector. The local District Council Representatives suggested that the waste water at the colliery should be used to provide a piped water supply for the two parishes. Thus was started Stanley and West Hallam Joint Water Scheme. A reservoir was constructed at Smalley Common, (capacity 90,000 gallons). Water was pumped by the Colliery Company up to this reservoir whence it was distributed through the mains to any who applied for it. ‘This water was not of the best quality, having a temporary hardness of 29.60. After 1937 this sector received all the water required of the mixed Little Eaton Boreholes and Derwent Valley Waters from “Drum Hill” reservoir. The water from the Colliery has not since been used, although during the 1939-45 war period it provided an emergency stand-by supply.