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Lost village

Derwent and Ashopton

Ladybower Reservoir, Derbyshire

Two villages under a reservoir, which reappear in dry summers.

When Ladybower Reservoir was built in the 1940s to supply water to Sheffield, Derby and Nottingham, the villages of Derwent and Ashopton were flooded. Derwent's church spire was left standing above the water until 1947, when it was blown up because people kept trying to reach it.

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When
Flooded 1943–1946
Where
53.3900, -1.7200
Group
Lost & drowned villages

Visiting

Ladybower and the Derwent dams have car parks and walks. The dams were used for Dambusters practice.

Cover of The Ledger of Lost Britain by Cale Mills
Read the full story in the book

The Ledger of Lost Britain

The Romans arrived in AD 43. For most people that is where the history of Britain begins. But by the time the legions landed, people had already been living on these islands for thousands of years. They had hunted, farmed, mined flint, dragged stones across the country, raised a hill by hand, and buried their dead in great tombs. They left no written words. What they left was the ground itself. Every place in this book can be visited, or has been dug up, or is in a museum.

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