URPoint Details
A loch located 1 miles (2 km) north of Aberdour in Fife
The reservoir represents the remnant of a pair of former reservoirs built in 1876 to supply Burntisland with water.
In 1986, the larger southern reservoir was drained while, four years later, the centre of the south dam was demolished and the water in the smaller northern reservoir was lowered by almost 2m (6 feet), exposing mud banks which were rapidly colonised by plant-life.
The reservoir now forms part of a nature reserve, managed jointly by the Scottish Wildlife Trust and Fife Council, which is notable as a habitat for the rare mudwort, together with a range of wildfowl.
Mudwort benefitted from the annual draw down, when the reservoir supplied drinking water, and the water level is still lowered each summer to encourage the plant and give it the opportunity to set seed
- Type:
- Reserves