Fernworthy Reservoir, on Dartmoor near Chagford, was constructed between 1936 and 1942. The dam was built of concrete and faced with granite supplied from a small purpose dug quarry just a few hundred metres south of the dam. The old farmhouse at Fernworthy was not submerged by the reservoir, but was demolished during the dam's construction.

However, Fernworthy Reservoir did affect the Bronze Age settlement of Metherall. Eight fairly large stone hut circles and associated boundary walls make up the settlement, with half of the huts now normally submerged under the reservoir. Before the reservoir was constructed, excavations were carried out by Worth in 1934-36. (Worth's Dartmoor: Compiled from the Published Works of the Late R. Hansford Worth)