Thornton Reservoir

Thornton Reservoir sits on Reservoir Road in Thornton, near Markfield in Leicestershire. It's a sizeable bit of water: Severn Trent puts the full-water area at 76 acres, with a maximum depth of 10 metres, or 33 feet. That gives you the scale straight away. This isn't a little pool for a cheeky hour on a peg; its fishing history is all about reservoir fly fishing.

• 1 lake: Thornton Reservoir
• Fish: trout
• Find it: Markfield · LE67 1AR

Based on how each lake is set up — not a ranking.

Thornton Reservoir sits on Reservoir Road in Thornton, near Markfield in Leicestershire. It's a sizeable bit of water: Severn Trent puts the full-water area at 76 acres, with a maximum depth of 10 metres, or 33 feet. That gives you the scale straight away. This isn't a little pool for a cheeky hour on a peg; its fishing history is all about reservoir fly fishing.

The big thing to know before packing the rods is that the village website explicitly lists Thornton Fly Fishery as closed. Its closure notice describes financial difficulties at the former operating company following Ifor Jones's death in January 2024. A club update in November 2024 hoped fishing would return during 2025, but that was a hope, not confirmation. There's no confirmed reopening here to build a fishing trip around.

There's a confusing wrinkle, too. The National Forest still describes an open trout fishery, which conflicts with the village closure notice. So the sensible call is to get a clear answer about fishing availability before making plans. No current tickets, catch allowances, fishing season or booking service are confirmed. Public access to the reservoir doesn't settle any of those questions, and it certainly isn't a green light to cast out.

Historically, anglers could fly fish from the bank, hire boats or use float tubes, with rainbow trout among the targets. Older descriptions mention roughly two miles of bank fishing and 20 hire boats. That's a cracking spread of ways to approach reservoir trout, but all of it belongs to the former operation. Don't count on a boat being ready, float-tube permission still applying or the old bank access being available for fishing now.

For a walk rather than a session, there's much firmer ground to stand on. Visitor parking is free, disabled bays are provided, and the flat circular track runs for 2.5 miles. That route is suitable for wheelchair users and less-mobile visitors, with a wheelchair-suitable woodland path as well. Handy for enjoying the water without lugging tackle about, although an accessible walking route shouldn't be confused with a confirmed accessible fishing swim.

There's a brew stop, too: Bean and Boat coffee kiosk is listed as opening daily from 9am–3pm, with toilets available during those hours. Dogs need to stay on leads, and swimming, barbecues and horse riding around the reservoir aren't allowed. Bottom line? Thornton has plenty of fly-fishing history and useful visitor facilities, but keep the fishing plans on hold until current permission and arrangements are clear. That saves a wasted journey and a whole lot of faff.

We're not sure on ticket prices for this one — check with the club or local regulations before you leave.

Good background reading. Most of it is a few years old, so treat it as a starting point and ask on the day.

Videos linked by the fishery

• Our read

  Checked Sept '26 — “Thornton is a 76-acre reservoir near Markfield with a proper fly-fishing history, but the village website lists the fishery as closed and a return to fishing isn't confirmed. Public walks, free parking and the coffee kiosk are a separate matter — don't mistake visitor access for permission to wet a line.”

This is our own summary of recurring public feedback and the venue details we checked, not a copied customer review or a promise you’ll catch. Feedback changes, so we keep it separate from the Tackle Index score.