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Address Marlborough Rd, Swindon SN3 6AA, UK Hours Open today ยท Open 24 hoursWednesdayOpen 24 hoursThursdayOpen 24 hoursFridayOpen 24 hoursSaturdayOpen 24 hoursSundayOpen 24 hoursMondayOpen 24 hoursTuesdayOpen 24 hours Similar Lydiard Park, Museum of Computing, Museum of the Great Western, Richard Jefferies Museum, Stanton Country Park | ||
Coate Water (grid reference SU188820) is a country park situated 5 km (3.1 mi) to the southeast of central Swindon, England, near junction 15 of the M4. It takes its name from its main feature, a reservoir originally built to provide water for the Wilts & Berks Canal.
Contents
- Save the diving board at coate water country park we interview sophie hart
- Development
- Birds
- In fiction
- References
The reservoir formed a 70-acre (280,000 m2) lake, built in 1822 by diverting the River Cole. Its primary purpose was to provide water for the canal and it remained outside the borough of Swindon until the borough's expansion in 1928.
In 1914, with the canal abandoned, Coate became a Pleasure Park; changing rooms and a wooden diving board were added. In 1935 the wooden diving platform was replaced with a 33 ft (10 m) high concrete platform in an Art Deco style which has been praised by English Heritage and, although swimming in the lake has been prohibited since 1958, it was given Grade II listed protection in 2013. Now named officially named Coate Water Country Park, the lake is both a leisure facility and a nature reserve.
An area of 51.1 hectares of the lake and its margins has been notified as a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest, mainly for its breeding bird populations. Part of the site is also a local nature reserve.
Save the diving board at coate water country park we interview sophie hart
Development
In 2004, Swindon Borough Council and the University of Bath published plans to develop land next to the park as a new campus. The university pulled out of the proposals but then left the area vulnerable to the whims of housing developers. Since then Persimmon Homes and Redrow Homes have submitted various planning applications. One was turned down and dismissed at a planning appeal. Another went to appeal in November 2011 and was allowed by the Secretary of State - 900 houses and an industrial estate are now planned. Local residents began a Save Coate campaign at the start and continue to fight to protect the landscape made famous by Richard Jefferies.
The campaigners note that -
"Coate boasts a host of Bronze Age, Romano-British and Medieval history that spans a period of up to about 3000 years. The oldest known ancient monuments at Coate are the Neolithic Stone Circle and the Bronze age burial mound along Day House Lane. However, no less than six Stone Circles have been recorded in the Coate area linked up, in part, by avenues of large Sarsen stones. The remains of one of the stone circles probably still lies at the bottom of the lake at Coate Water whilst other ancient finds are dotted around the area that include evidence of Medieval settlements."
and point out that is in conflict with several of Swindon Borough Council's own environmental policies.
A buffer zone around the park was proposed in late 2006, although campaigners and local residents do not think this is enough -
"In a poll, just 20 per cent of readers said they believed that the new plans would help to protect Coate Water." Swindon Advertiser
The issue was further compounded when Coate Water was voted "Swindon's Favourite Place" by the local population,.
Protests, including the 2004 "Hands around Coate Water" event, and a petition signed by over 52,000 people have heightened awareness of the campaign.
Birds
Coate Water is a notable site for birds. The following rare-in-Wiltshire species have been recorded there:
In fiction
Author Richard Jefferies (1848-1887) was born at Coate village, a short distance northeast of Coate Water in Chiseldon parish; his home is now a museum. The "New Sea" in his Bevis books was based on Coate Water.