The storage reservoir, which is owned by Thames Water, is bordered by Chingford to the east and Ponders End and Edmonton to the west, and covers 334 acres (135 hectares) with a perimeter of 3.5 miles (5.6 km).

The reservoir was conceived as part of an overall plan for the Lea Valley and laid before the Royal Commission on Water Supply (Balfour Committee) in 1893.

The design, by Sir Jonathan Roberts Davidson,[1] President of the Institution of Civil Engineers 1948/49, attracted widespread technical interest in 1937 when a major slip occurred in the partly formed embankment at the north-west corner.

Two independent soil mechanics experts, Dr. Herbert Chatley and Professor Karl Terzaghi, were called in and both made recommendations.

Construction was further delayed by the outbreak of the Second World War and the reservoir was not finally completed until 1951, when it was officially opened on 4 September by William Girling, Chairman of the MWB, and named eponymously.

[2] As part of the 2012 Summer Olympics security exercise, the reservoir was identified as suitable for the deployment of Rapier surface-to-air missiles.

[3] The geology of the site is alluvium underlain by river terrace gravels and in turn overlying the London Clay formation.