The east arm of the reservoir, fed by the Ladybower Brook, is overlooked by Hordron Edge stone circle.

The two viaducts, Ashopton and Ladybower, needed to carry the trunk roads over the reservoir, were built by the London firm of Holloways, using a steel frame clad in concrete.

The project was delayed when the Second World War broke out in 1939, making labour and raw materials scarce, but construction was continued due to the strategic importance of maintaining supplies.

The dam's design is unusual[a] in having two totally enclosed bellmouth spillway overflows (locally named the "plugholes") at the side of the wall.

The path of the aqueduct is marked by a series of valve houses built of stone and domed steel access chambers.

A tunnel carries some of the water from the Derwent Valley eastwards through the hill and into the lower of the two Rivelin Dams to supply Sheffield.

The buildings in Ashopton were demolished before the reservoir was filled, but much of the structure of Derwent village was still visible during a dry summer some 14 years later.

The clock tower of the church had been left standing and the upper part of it was visible above the water level until 1947, when it was seen as a hazard and demolished with explosives on 15 December.

They said that in response to consultation feedback the Upper Derwent Valley Reservoir Expansion scheme had been removed from their preferred plan.