Adderbury Lakes is first and foremost a nature reserve with the main aim being to provide a breeding habitat that is secure as nature and visitors allow. The area is a wonderful local amenity and it has been calculated that there are something like 3,000 visitors each year, many of whom come regularly to fish or just to enjoy its peace and quiet.

The Lakes comittee regularly organise working parties, made up of willing volunteers from the village, to tidy and maintain the Lakes area, reports on thes working parties can be found by clicking here.

Cherwell District Council has published an online booklet about the lakes which can be found here

The present site consists of two small lakes fed by five springs rising from sites between the Aynho Road and Long Wall public footpath to East End and once formed part of the Adderbury House estate. Lancelot "Capability' Brown, is known to have been commissioned to produce a design for a park for Adderbury House and a rough but undated sketch of his idea of a 'fine serpentine stream of water' is contained within one of his workbooks and is believed to date from around 1768.

The Lakes in their current format were created by the then owner of Adderbury House, William Hunt Chamberlain, who also created several structures in the Lakes area, the Ice-House, the boat house, a summer house, the small covered viewing seat (marked as a Garden Seat on Capability Brown's plan) and a covered spring head dated 1848. These structures still remain, although the summer house is now much reduced in size and reshaped since the restoration and reclamation of the lakes in 1986.

The entrance to the Ice-House Built in around 1815-1817 these structures were iused in a similar way to modern day refrigerators keeping food cold and so preserving it. This is a listed building. For more photographs of the lakes go to the lakes gallery>>>>

The Lakes area has proved to be a popular for school pond-dipping expeditions and parties of primary school children have also come for instruction on tree identification and dating. Local art clubs also visit from time-to-time, to sketch and paint and it is also an excellent site for observing and recording bat activity. The area is also popular with local dog-walkers and with local families, visiting the ducks and generally enjoying this unspoilt area.

Fishing the waters is particularly popular with children during the school holidays. Both waters are well stocked with fish and the water is tested from time to time by the water agency responsible. Anyone who wishes to fish may do so without charge; however, the upper lake is heavily silted, making it less of a challenge to the experienced angler.

The Lakes area can be accessed by two entrances: one in the north east comer via Long Wall footpath; through a doorway in the wall; the other is in the north west comer of the area approached via Lake Walk (residential estate) which runs alongside Adderbury House. Three car parking spaces are provided at this entrance for sole use of visitors to the Lakes

The lakes area contains a wide diversity of insects, birds, mammals and plant life. A current list of these can be found if you CLICK HERE. The tree cover is extensive with some of the trees dating back to the early 1800's.

The northern boundary of The Lakes area is bounded by an ancient stone wall (Long Wall) and elsewhere the boundaries are hedged and fenced with the original metal railings.

The response to the questionnaires for the 1994 and 2004 Adderbury Village Appraisals showed that a visit to the Lakes for residents and visitors is a regular and popular activity with many visiting on a weekly basis. The following results show that of those replying to the question, 16% in 1994 and 22% in 2004 visited on a monthly or more frequent basis; and 63% in 1994 and 63% in 2004 visited occasionally. A very large segment of young people also claimed to have visited The Lakes. This monitoring is useful in deciding if further promotion of the Lakes facility is necessary or whether the level of present use is appropriate to the conservation of the area.

AVA Question: How often do you visit Adderbury Lakes?

The figures shown above are the numbers of people visiting.

Excerpts from Adderbury Lakes management plan by kind permission of Adderbury Lakes Committee