Go to the Main Scottish Cave and Mine Database Search Page

Gryffe Reservoir [Air Shaft]

Greenock, Inverclyde.

Air shaft from water suppy tunnel.

Alternative Names: None recorded.

Notes: The Gryffe Reservoirs were constructed in the six years following 1866 to improve the drinking water supply for the town of Greenock after a typhus epidemic in 1864 killed thousands of people in the town. Construction of the reservoirs was completed in 1872 and it is still used to provide Greenock with drinking water. The water is conveyed to Greenock in a tunnel, the route of which is marked with air shafts, which ends at the Whinhill Water Treatment Works. The reservoirs were originally run by the Greenock Water Trust but are now owned and managed by Scottish Water. [wikipedia]

The Gryffe Reservoirs are fed by several streams rising north of Creuch Hill including the upper part of the Gryffe Water. The lower part of the same stream still runs from the dam overflow east via Kilmalcolm and Bridge of Weir to join the Black Cart at Renfrew. The North Rotten Burn also feeds into the Gryffe Reserviors via Loch Thom.

Hydrographic Feeds: Gryffe Reservoir 1

Hydrographic Resurgences: Gryffe Reservoir 2