Isle of Man Guide

History

Douglas Town Commissioners purchased the water undertaking in 1890 for £144,000. The reservoir was filled by Feb 1893 and was the larger of the two reservoirs on the site (the other being Clypse Reservoir). The reservoir has a surface area of 11.6 acres with a depth of 40 feet. It can hold about 50 million gallons of water. The draw off uses a cast iron tower, which is reached by a steel footbridge (replaced in 1950 and 2002).

Made with an earth embankment and a puddle clay core. The draw off is a single 24 inch diameter pipe, which combines the supple and scour functions. The flow of water is controlled by three 15 inch draw off valves from different levels in the wet well draw off tower

The Kerrowdhoo Reservoir is the lower of the two reservoirs (the other being Clypse Reservoir). It takes it water from the Groudle River and is in the same catchment area as the Clypse Reservoir, which covers 562 acres.

There is plenty of parking, though it is shared between the Clypse and the Kerrowdhoo Reservoirs. The Kerowdhoo has about a mile of bank for fishing, though only fly is allowed.

Fishing

Fly fishing only is the rule. Brown and rainbow trout of two pounds and more are reasonably common, while much bigger fish can be caught by a skilled angler.

Location

The Clypse and Kerrowdhoo Reservoirs are next to each other. They lie about one and a half miles north of Onchan. A private road runs off the road to Grange Farm. There are locations nearby to park cars.