The last resident spoke of a village "lost under water" (5 photos)

The abandoned village of Derwent, hidden underwater for over 80 years, occasionally resurfaces, as if reminding us of the life that once teemed there.





Derwent was located in the heart of the Peak District in Derbyshire. The small settlement, with its limestone cottages, cozy streets, and rolling hills, was home to approximately 50 people. It had a school, church, post office, and a manor house with manicured gardens and a pond. However, the residents were soon forced to abandon their homes.



Between 1935 and 1943, the village's fate changed forever. Authorities approved a plan to flood the Derwent and the neighboring village of Ashopton to create a reservoir to supply water to the growing cities of the English Midlands. Despite protests, residents were relocated, and a dam was built on the site of the village.

This is how Ladybower Reservoir was created. This enormous lake could hold almost 28,000 megaliters of water, supplying Derby, Sheffield, and Nottingham. Over time, the water completely engulfed houses, streets, and the church, turning Derwent into a "ghost village."





The village occasionally emerges to the surface

In dry years, the water level in Ladybower drops noticeably, and then cottage walls, doorways, the remains of a bridge, and the ruins of the village church emerge from the depths. This happened in 2018 and 2022. Hundreds of people came then to see the unexpectedly "resurrected" Derwent.

Visitors discovered stone fireplaces, paths near the church, and fragments of an old railway. Some former residents reported hearing the ringing of the church bell while walking among the ruins, even though it had been removed before the flooding.

In 2025, the village resurfaced. Low water levels revealed the ruins of the church, and earlier, part of Derwent Hall. After heavy rains, the buildings were submerged again, but experts believe Derwent will resurface again in the future.



The Last Resident

In an interview, 92-year-old former village resident Mabel Bamford admitted that she may be the only one left who remembers Derwent and Ashopton as they were before the flooding.



The woman recalled going to school even while construction of the reservoir was already underway, and how workers would drop off children inside the enormous pipes of the future water supply system.

"We had to walk a mile and a half to the Derwent. Sometimes, hunters and beaters would give us a lift during the grouse season. But most of all, we enjoyed the rides offered by the pipeline workers. They would take us inside the large black pipes they were building on the site of the reservoir," the British woman recalls.