The famous Broadwaters have formed an iconic landscape, looking north from the Cotswolds village of Sherborne, for over 250 years. The two lakes of the Broadwaters have been allowed to fill with silt for thirty years or so, and weeds now run rampant.

In the Georgian period two lakes were created by placing weirs across the Sherborne Brook. These made a ‘serpentine’ aspect to the valley bottom, in tune with the landscape fashion of the time, the water in the middle distance being fronted by gently sloping pasture and the land rising beyond, dotted with tracts of woodland, to the far horizon. It is now Grade 2 listed parkland owned for the past thirty years or so by the National Trust.

The Old Park at Sherborne began as an Elizabethan deer park, later expanded, with the Sherborne Brook and lake the principal visual elements. Kip’s bird’s eye view (pre-1712) already shows the Brook widened and held back by a four-arched weir (with upstanding architectural embellishment) carrying a track. Presumably, this is the track over the present upper weir leading to a quadrangular farm building (Sheafhouse, 1831). The lake is the only substantial piece of ornamental water at Sherborne in either the Old Park or the much larger, later New Park, which occupies higher ground.

A flurry of expenditure began at Sherborne in the 1820s, with the eminent landscaper, William Sawrey Gilpin working there, and the rebuilding of the mansion from 1829. It is likely the lakes in their present form are by Sawrey Gilpin, with the weir reconstructed, but without architectural topknot.

The Broadwaters were much more cleverly engineered than might initially be thought. Although they appear to lie at the very base of the valley, they were actually created at an elevation some six feet higher to the north, which allows them to be better seen. Both ends of the waters are hidden by trees, giving the impression that they continue much further. There are two weirs, the upper of which (often called ‘the cascade’, although this is likely derived from ‘cast gate’) has a sluice through the middle and, intriguingly, an eel trap in a separate conduit, both disused now. A small, arched footbridge and cobbled ford make attractive additions to this weir and provide a delightful view from the road. The lower weir, out of sight, is taller and more dramatic. It has two sluices – one, a ‘flood sluice’ intended to manage the level of the water, and the other, once used to power a turbine and provide electricity to Sherborne. These water management features, however, have been in disrepair for decades and are now unusable. One result has been that the lower Broadwaters’ bank was breached by floods two years ago, and that breach is still unrepaired, eroding the soil of the pasture to the south.

For nearly 200 years these waters were carefully managed and villagers, and visitors alike have been charmed by their classic view from the road. Occasionally the silt was dredged and by careful use of the sluices control was maintained of the reeds that might otherwise grow to cover the surface. A National Trust document of 2013 stated the view that the Broadwaters are of particular importance. The local community have requested a full copy of this document but are told that it is being ‘rewritten’.

The open water should be a glorious feature of the Georgian Picturesque at Sherborne. For a few years villagers kept the weeds at bay by cutting at them from a boat, but latterly the silt has become so extensive that that there is not the water for a boat to float. Now an estimated 95% of the waters of both lakes are covered by weed. The fine view has been replaced by a dismal swamp, with species such as willow and other large shrubs now covering the valley bottom.

Read the article from Country Life and find out more on the Facebook page of the Sherborne Brook Support Group.