The Box is a major cultural and heritage attraction and archive, which opened in Plymouth’s city centre in September 2020. Its collection, formally the South West Film and Television Archive (SWFTA), is the regional film archive for the South West of England, comprising the combined programme libraries of Westward Television and Television South West (TSW). It also includes a significant number of donated film collections dating back to the early 1890s.
This film is part of Free
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_480x270/public/hero-images/91ab5be85a5364c4e3e132964a39230a.jpg?itok=pG0tUZvB)
Burrator
A documentary on Burrator reservoir in the Dartmoor National Park
In partnership with:
![Logo for The Box](/sites/default/files/styles/association/public/association-logos/The%20Box%20logo%20black.png?itok=gG7mR2_h)
Overview
Burrator is narrated by David Rodgers and was produced and directed by Michael McCloy. It takes us through the recent history of the Burrator manmade reservoir located at the southern end of Dartmoor National Park. The documentary includes the Fishing Feast Ceremony where Sir Francis Drake is honoured for giving Plymouth a reliable water supply in the 16th century.
The last tenant of Longstone Manor, George Shillibeer is given notice and the reservoir built under the supervision of Plymouth’s Water Engineer, Edward Sandeman and completed in 1898. The landscape is styled on a Swiss lake. The reservoir has two dams, the 1893 Burrator Dam across the River Meavy at Burrator Gorge and the 1894 Sheepstor Dam on the dividing ridge between Meavy and Sheepstor Brook. The reservoir can hold up to 1026 million gallons of water.
Related
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/promo255976449.jpg?itok=LI7eqZ1m)
Around the Village Green Around the Village Green
Travelogue 1937 12 mins Location: Finchingfield
Rural life in the Essex villages of Finchingfield and Great Bardfield - and the mixed reactions of older residents to changing times.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/49b403746edbbe748105a37f219dfb12.jpg?itok=KyX76yHH)
One Foot in Eden One Foot in Eden
Documentary 1978 49 mins Location: Orkney Islands
Orkney evoked through poetry, the sounds of nature, and the music of Peter Maxwell Davies.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/d4fe4ef6b95ca6e6cf895460bcd751b5.jpg?itok=GzBi_402)
A Day in the Hayfields A Day in the Hayfields
Non-Fiction 1904 3 mins Silent Location: Walton-on-Thames
Midsummer haymaking larks
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/21e3dafe50bb0e8f5b4875419ce61578.jpg?itok=xshKwe7c)
West of England West of England
Industry sponsored film 1951 10 mins Location: Stroud
The Stroud valleys of Gloucestershire in glorious Technicolor - and with a Laurie Lee script.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/promo259434819.jpg?itok=5yffQokX)
Showtime Showtime
Documentary 1984 23 mins Location: Newark-on-Trent
From shire horses to the Royal Marines, welcome to the annual Newark Show. A serious business for the farming community, with prizes to win and 800 gallons of beer to be drunk.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/eb13ab3b48abb54382d5ce0103583ad2.jpg?itok=r9-mIXDD)
Springtime in an English Village Springtime in an English Village
Documentary 1944 7 mins Location: Stanion
An extraordinary and unexpected snapshot of rural life in wartime in which a young black girl is crowned Queen of the May.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/bc7fb895b09ee86014573c975f7e29f5.jpg?itok=n_qiVjzP)
Iroquois Rain Dance Iroquois Rain Dance
Current affairs 1984 4 mins Location: Burrator Reservoir
Iroquois Earth Songs connect businessman to nature
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/Shoot-Your-Shot-02.jpg?itok=KREdlpBS)
Shoot Your Shot Shoot Your Shot
Drama 2022 12 mins
An emotional stand-off takes flight, as teen best friends Ronit and Brennan come to terms with navigating that fuzzy feeling in their stomachs, all whilst learning to skateboard.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/%25E2%2580%258ELook-Like-You-02.jpeg?itok=2R3w9luT)
Look Like You Look Like You
Drama 2022 13 mins
While visiting the adoptive family of her eight-year-old biological son, Tara relays advice she gathered from growing up as a queer outcast.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/Yellow-04.jpg?itok=Bt5NDkC8)
Yellow Yellow
Drama 2023 13 mins
In Taliban controlled Afghanistan, Laili walks into a Chadari store in Kabul to buy her first full body veil from a Talib shopkeeper and face a new future.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/NEHEMICH-02.jpg?itok=ba9fjUy4)
Nehemich Nehemich
Drama 2023 23 mins
Banished in a dilapidated village hut during her menstruation, a young girl waits to elope with her lover.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/1717526943-default-ovp-poster-image.jpg?itok=Fk8VLsGa)
Interview with Pam Cullen Interview with Pam Cullen
Inside Film 2020 53 mins
Interview with Pam Cullen who at 97 boasts an incredible career spanning over fifty years in the Indian film industry.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/muscleqanda.jpg?itok=8sw22r7R)
Muscle - Exclusive Q&A Muscle - Exclusive Q&A
Short interview 2024 34 mins
Director Gerard Johnson talks Nia Child through the making of Muscle, an adrenalized drama that tears into the stereotypes of masculinity and male friendship.