Randy Mere Reservoir (also known as Randymere Reservoir), is a freshwater reservoir owned and operated by Yorkshire Water, near Beck Hole, in North Yorkshire, England. The reservoir was built in the 1880s by Whitby Water Company and holds about 62,000 cubic metres (2,200,000cuft) of water. The reservoir is built on an overflow channel for the proglacialLake Eskdale, and before being converted into a reservoir, the area was a tarn and a marsh that was used as a commercial leech fishery.
The Whitby Waterworks Act 1864 (27 & 28 Vict. c. ccix) authorised the building of a reservoir on Randy Mere.[2] The right to take water from the springs in the Hazel Head area (which feed the reservoir) were acquired in 1871, and in 1884, the reservoir was constructed by Edward Easton & Company with two earthen embankments, one at either end of the reservoir, each being 75 yards (69m) in width, and 300 yards (270m) between them.[3][4][5] The reservoir was built on an existing tarn and marshy ground that was once the site of a commercial leech fishery; locals would wade through the marsh with bare legs and then remove any leeches which had attached themselves to their bare skin.[6][7][8] Soon after the opening of the reservoir, water was seen to be leaking from the sandstone around the dam. The Whitby Water Company had to repair this leak by applying puddle clay walls to the reservoir, but first, they had to prove that the new works, and the original works, were granted under the Whitby Waterworks Act 1864 that gave the water rights for Hazel Head Springs.[9] This was granted under the Whitby Water Act 1895 (58 & 59 Vict. c. xxxvii). Eventually, bituminous sheeting was laid on the bed of the reservoir to stop it seeping between 110,000 imperial gallons (500,000L; 130,000USgal) and 250,000 imperial gallons (1,100,000L; 300,000USgal) per day.[10] These works were completed in 1900 at a cost of £9,000 (equivalent to £956,000in 2025).[11][12]
During the rebuilding of 1895, the water supply to Whitby continued through the outfall pipe which bypassed the reservoir, and ran direct to a storage reservoir at Sneaton Castle in Whitby, though fresh water was restricted overnight.[13][14] The rebuilding process also involved cosmetically altering the sides of the reservoir which had been left with boulders jutting out at all angles.[15] The reservoir was refurbished and cleaned in 1971 to a cost of £45,520 (equivalent to £575,000in 2025), and by this point it was in the control of Scarborough Corporation Waterworks, and then in 1973, it became an asset of Yorkshire Water.[16][17]
Ordnance Survey mapping lists the lake as Randy Mere, but Randymere is also used frequently.[18] The reservoir sits on an old overflow channel from the proglacial Lake Eskdale, and so became a marshy area; and because of this, it was historically known as Randay Mire, though it has also been recorded as Randay Mere and Raynday Mere.[19][20][21][22] The name derives from Old English meaning either brink, edge, margin or shore.[23][24] The reservoir is on Egton High Moor, close to the hamlet of Beck Hole, about 6 miles (9.7km) south-west of Sleights.[25]
Randy Mere is open for angling, with rainbow and brown trout in the reservoir. Permits are issued for fishing between June and October by the Egton Estate, who used to own the land the tarn was once on, but they sold it to the waterworks company whilst retaining the fishing rights.[26][27][28]
↑Makepeace, William Ridley (1923). Goathland walks: being a guide to all who are visiting this Yorkshire land of moor and waterfall. Whitby: Horne. p.18. OCLC1680397.
↑"Whitby Water Company". The Building News. 42. London: Office for Publication and advertisements: 779. 23 June 1882. OCLC8233732.
↑Makepeace, William Ridley (1923). Goathland walks: being a guide to all who are visiting this Yorkshire land of moor and waterfall. Whitby: Horne. p.17. OCLC1680397.
↑Peach, Howard (2004). Curious tales of old North Yorkshire. Wilmslow: Sigma Leisure. p.29. ISBN1850587930.
↑"Reservoirs to get £80,000 facelift". The Northern Echo. No.31, 531. 16 July 1971. p.5. OCLC6685296.
↑The Yorkshire Water Authority Constitution Order 1973 No. 1289. London: HMSO. 1973. p.3,911. ISBN0-11-031289-9.
↑Russell, Rachel (9 December 2024). "Goathland power and water cut during storm 'isolating' - resident". BBC News. Retrieved 16 May 2025. A Yorkshire Water spokesperson said the weekend's stormy weather had affected the nearby Randymere reservoir pumping station, resulting in a loss of water supply to some properties in Goathland. "While power was restored to some properties on Saturday evening, power was not restored to Randymere reservoir until Sunday evening," they added.
↑Dales, Louis S. (1983). Eskdale Way: an 82 mile circular walk in the North York Moors National Park. Clapham: Dalesman Books. p.20. ISBN0-8520-6744-5.
↑Fox-Strangways, C.; Barrow, G. (1915). The geology of the country between Whitby and Scarborough. London: HMSO. p.133. OCLC1243836985.
↑Hayes, R. H.; Wilson, P. R. (1988). North-east Yorkshire studies: archaeological papers /by. Leeds: Roman Antiquities Section, Yorkshire Archaeological Society. p.39. ISBN0-9021-2254-1.
↑Elgee, Frank (1912). The moorlands of north-eastern Yorkshire: their natural history and origin. London: A. Brown and Sons. p.143. OCLC1049672145.
↑Ekwall, Eilert (1960). The concise Oxford dictionary of English place-names (4ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p.380. OCLC1228215388.
↑Laurence, Alastair (2018). Old Egton: a new history. p.78. OCLC1443818399.
↑Montagu, C.E. (December 1930). "Restoration of Whitby water supply". The Royal Engineers Journal. XLIV. Chatham: Institution of Royal Engineers: 624. ISSN0035-8878. OCLC5156485.
↑Laurence, Alastair (2018). Old Egton: a new history. p.79. OCLC1443818399.
Sources
Williams, G.B. (1899). Tudsberry, J.H.T. (ed.). "Lining a reservoir near Whitby". Minutes of Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers. CXXXVII. London: Institution of Civil Engineers. ISSN1753-7843. OCLC1695182.
