Stowe Pool

The pool supports a large variety of fish including, carp, bream, tench, roach, perch, pike and eel.

[3] Effective wildlife management of the pool has attracted various species of wildfowl, including mute swans, moorhens, coots and grebes.

[3] Stowe Pool was originally formed in the 11th century when a dam and mill were constructed across Leamonsley Brook near to St Chads Church.

Nearby stood an enormous willow tree, which became famous for its great size; it was much admired by Johnson, who visited it whenever he returned to Lichfield.

[6] In 1853 the South Staffordshire Waterworks Co. was founded and it was immediately proposed by John Robinson McClean to tap Lichfield's plentiful water resources to supply the Black Country.

[6] In 1856 the mill was demolished, the silt was dredged and an embankment built around the pool to raise the water level bringing it up to its current size.

[6] The stored water in Stowe Pool could then be conveyed back towards Sandfields Pumping Station, where it was piped along the railway line to Walsall.

Stowe mill which stood at the east of the pool until 1856
St Chad's Church from Stowe Pool