Overflow to Lower Lake, three weirs to east side of dam and pump house adjacent to middle weir, in Bretton Park is a Grade II listed building in the Wakefield local planning authority area, England. First listed on 6 May 1988. Water feature. 2 related planning applications.

Overflow to Lower Lake, three weirs to east side of dam and pump house adjacent to middle weir, in Bretton Park

WRENN ID
proud-entrance-gold
Grade
II
Local Planning Authority
Wakefield
Constituency
Ossett and Denby Dale MP: Jade Botterill (Lab)
Country
England
Date first listed
6 May 1988
Type
Water feature
Address
Overflow to Lower Lake, three weirs to east side of dam and pump house adjacent to middle weir, in Bretton Park, WF4 4LG
OS grid reference
SE 290 125
Coordinates
53.60856, -1.56306
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: EPC · related consents · flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The overflow to Lower Lake, three weirs on the east side of the dam, and a pump house adjacent to the middle weir are located in Bretton Park. The overflow and weirs likely date from around 1782, coinciding with the creation of Lower Lake, while the pump house probably dates from the early 19th century. The overflow and weirs are constructed from coursed squared stone with slight tooling or vermiculation. The pump house is made of coursed square rubble with quoins and features a stone slate roof.

The top weir marks the eastern end of The Cut, which flows eastward to the north of the lakes. The overflow travels through a tunnel-vaulted skew-bridge to connect with the second weir in a 90-degree curve. The third weir is shallower. All three weirs are stepped and concave, with the upper two weirs each having a drop of approximately 5 meters.

Inside the pump house, there is a brick wall that forms a wheel housing containing an iron-spoked water wheel with a diameter of about 2 meters (6 feet). Another chamber houses a crankshaft with two connecting rods leading to a pump. The goit that drives the wheel appears to have been blocked. The pump is reported to have been used to lift drinking water from a lower level to the main house, which is approximately 700 meters away.

Local climate

Overflow to Lower Lake, three weirs to east side of dam and pump house adjacent to middle weir, in Bretton Park receives an average of 910 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 68% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 52% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 41 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 79% of listed buildings. Of these, 23 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

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  • Related listed building consents — 2 applications
  • Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
  • Flood risk assessment
  • Radon risk assessment
  • Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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