About the reserve

The reservoir was created in 1965 to provide people with drinking water and was immediately colonised by wildlife. The nature reserve surrounds the western side of the reservoir and contains ancient and plantation woodlands, grasslands and wetland habitats such as reedbeds, willow and open water.

The reserve from above video

Grafham Water is one of the prime bird watching sites in the county, with rarer visitors such as  osprey and the occasional  Slavonian grebe, alongside the more familiar resident mallards and greylag geese. With nine miles of shoreline, and around 170 species of bird recorded each year, there is always something to see.

Leaflet and map

Reserve map

Additional information

For further information about the different areas of Grafham Water, click on the links below:

• Dudney Hide
• Lagoons Hide
• Littless Hide
• Lymage Hide
• Mander Hide Wildlife Garden
• Savages Creek
• Valley Creek Hide
• Ordinance survey map

Scroll down to see the reserve boundary. Please note the boundary map is for indication purposes only and does not show the Wildlife Trusts definitive land boundary. 

FOR ANY MEDIA ENQUIRIES PLEASE CONTACT OUR COMMUNICATIONS TEAM:   communicationsteam@wildlifebcn.org or 01954 713500 and ask for comms team.