Burrator Dam is a Grade II listed building in the Dartmoor National Park local planning authority area, England. Dam.

Burrator Dam

WRENN ID
distant-chapel-ebony
Grade
II
Local Planning Authority
Dartmoor National Park
Constituency
South West Devon MP: Rebecca Smith (Con)
Country
England
Type
Dam
Address
Burrator Dam, Meavy, West Devon
OS grid reference
SX 551 680
Coordinates
50.494, -4.04371
Source
Historic England listing

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

Description

Burrator Dam is a reservoir dam built between 1893 and 1898 by engineers James Manserch and Edward Sandeman. It was raised by 10 feet between 1923 and 1928. The dam is constructed of concrete and faced with rusticated rock-faced granite. The outer wall has a significant batter at its base. At the center, there is a 5-bay arcaded weir spillway featuring battered bases to its piers and imposts to segmental arches. The dam includes rusticated stringcourses and coping on the parapets, with the coping raised over the weir spillway. A carriageway runs over the top of the dam, which has a similar parapet on the reservoir side. The abutments of the dam have curved splays. Burrator Reservoir, supplied by the River Meavy, serves the City of Plymouth and Devonport, originally holding 657 million gallons of water, which was increased to 1,026 million gallons after the dam was raised. This dam was the first substantial dam built in the South West of England.

Local climate

Burrator Dam receives an average of 940 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 72% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 80% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 22 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 77% of listed buildings. Of these, 10 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.

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Nearby listed buildings

  1. Burrator Lodge Grade II 446 m
  2. Village Cross Grade II 893 m
  3. Lych Gate to West of Church Grade II 917 m
  4. The Old Vicarage Grade II 918 m
  5. K6 Telephone Kiosk to South of Parish Church Grade II 934 m
  6. Sheepstor War Memorial Grade II 937 m
  7. St Leonard's Church Grade I 944 m
  8. Holy Well of St Leonard Grade II 1.0 km
  9. Yeo Old Farmhouse Grade II* 1.1 km
  10. Higher Meavy Bridge Grade II 1.1 km