Leicester's rapidly growing population in the latter half of the 19th century required the construction of a series of reservoirs. In 1854 Thornton Reservoir was opened, serving a population of 61,000. By 1861 the population had increased, with the Waterworks Company now directly supplying 24,000 people, and five years later the company was supplying between 60 and 70,000 people and work began on Bradgate Reservoir (now known as Cropston Reservoir). By 1878 the "water population" had increased to 110,000 and by 1893 to 203,000, requiring further reservoirs to be constructed.
In 1890 Leicester City Council sought Parliamentary authority to acquire the land required to construct Swithland reservoir, which would be supplied from Lingdale Brook, Swithland Brook, Hallgates Brook, and Bradgate Brook, and construction commenced in 1894, with completion in 1896; The reservoir opened on 10 September in that year. The reservoir was constructed by Messrs. John Aird & Sons of London, who submitted a successful £133,511 tender and had a temporary railway extension built from Mountsorrel to assist with transportation of construction materials; This was extended to Hallgates in Cropston, where an additional storage reservoir was constructed, making the length nine miles in total. The road from Swithland was diverted due to the reservoir's construction and a bridge constructed at the South end. Construction of the reservoir necessitated the removal of 5,800 trees and nine miles of hedgerow. The dam is at the north end and is crossed by Kinchley Lane. An island known as Brazil Island (the part of Brazil Wood left above water level after flooding) is located south of the centre of the reservoir, with a weir on either side. Brazil Island was the site of a game reserve until it was destroyed by fire in 1938.
The capacity was initially stated at 600 million gallons (100 million gallons more than was originally envisaged), and was thought sufficient to serve a population of 300,000. Early operation of the reservoir was not without difficulties; While it had been envisaged that it would be sufficient to serve Leicester for 20 years, by 1898 further supply capacity from Derbyshire was needed, and the reservoir was considered by some to have been a failure. In 1909 supply to Leicester was temporarily halted due to "vegetable growth" caused by warm weather.
Local woman May Cook drowned in the reservoir in 1924 after apparently fainting while bathing her head. The body of 19 year old Ethel Oxford was recovered from the reservoir in April 1925. In 1926 the reservoir was the scene of the suicide of local man Albert Edwin Pepper, who drowned himself by entering the water with a stone weighing 40-60lbs tied to his waist.
