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The present dam under construction in 1906
Blackbrook Reservoir is a large body of water near Shepshed, Leicestershire, in England. The reservoir was constructed in 1796 in order to feed the Charnwood Forest canal, which has long since vanished. The first dam constructed was an earthworks one, and this failed on February 20th of 1799. In eleven minutes the reservoir was empty and as a result local farmland was ruined, sheep were drowned, and much of Shepshed and nearby Loughborough were affected by flood waters. The dam was repaired in 1801, but the canal was no longer commercially viable.
The present gravity dam was constructed in 1906 and was officially opened by the first Mayor of Loughborough Joseph Griggs. In 1957 the dam felt the effects of a magnitude 5.3 earthquake. The tremors caused heavy coping stones to shift and cracks appeared in the faces of the dam.
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