It is located to the north-east of Broadwoodwidger in West Devon, eight miles (13 km) east of Launceston and is the largest area of fresh water in the southwest of England.

It also supplies Plymouth and southwest Devon via releases into the River Tamar for abstraction at Gunnislake.

[2][3] The creation of the reservoir in 1989 permitted extensive archaeological research to be undertaken in the valley of the River Wolf led by Professor Mick Aston of Bristol University and documented by the Channel Four documentary series Time Signs.

[4] In 2008 South West Water received planning permission to build a 100-bed holiday village beside the lake.

[5] The facilities are managed by South West Lakes Trust, a registered charity.