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A Brief History of Powdermill Reservoir
Originally forming part of the Great Sanders Estate the name is derived from the
fact that there was an 18th century Black Powder (gunpowder) manufactory on the
site. The mill used to grind the powder was driven by water from a mill pond
formed by a dam across the original stream. The mill was the scene of three
explosions, before its eventual closure, in which several workers died (one of
whom, according to a rather ghoulish contemporary newspaper report, was blown
into five, named, pieces). One of the original pair of mill stones may be seen,
half buried, at the eastern end of the dam. Prior to its use as a powdermill the
site held an iron foundry which predated the attempt by the Spanish Armada to
invade Britain.
Under the direction of Sydney Little, "The Concrete King", the reservoir was
constructed between 1929 and 1932. Of approximately 56 acres (21 hectares) it
holds in the region of 188 million gallons (855 million litres) when full.
= Click for photograph taken during the construction of the dam.
The dam is of earth with a concrete slab facing and a clay puddle core and is
370yds long with a height of 40 ft. The construction of the dam required 170
men working for nearly 40 months and, due to unforeseen difficulties caused by
underlying and extruding sandstone strata, the estimated construction costs were
exceeded by a considerable margin. A number of the workers employed on the site
were of Welsh origin and several married local girls and settled in the area
giving rise to a fair proportion of Welsh surnames in the Sedlescombe community.
Filling of the reservoir began on November the fifth 1931 and was complete in
March 1932.
Once the reservoir was completed Hastings Corporation (the original owners) were
approached for the lease on the fishing rights. A seven year lease was granted
to the "Hastings Fly Fisher's Club" for a fee of £5 (five pounds) per annum and
the HFFC undertook to stock the waters with two thousand fish per season. Since
then the lease (and the number of fish stocked) has risen by a considerable
margin.
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