Coate Water () is a country park situated to the southeast of central Swindon, England, near junction 15 of the M4. It takes its name from its main feature, a reservoir originally built to provide water for the Wilts & Berks Canal. Now named 'Coate Water Country Park', the lake and its surroundings are both a leisure facility and a nature reserve. History The reservoir formed a lake, built in 1822 by diverting the River Cole. Its primary purpose was to provide water for the canal and it remained outside the borough of Swindon until the borough's expansion in 1928. In 1914, with the canal abandoned, Coate became a pleasure park; changing rooms and a wooden diving board were added. In 1935 the diving board was replaced with a high concrete multi-level structure in an Art Deco style which has been praised by English Heritage, and is still in place although swimming in the lake has been prohibited since 1958. The structure was given Grade II listed protection in 2013. Restoration by Swindon Borough Council in 2022, at a cost of around £100,000, included reinstatement of the handrails. Development plans In 2004, Swindon Borough Council and the University of Bath published plans to develop land next to the park as a campus, but the university later withdrew the proposals. Since then Persimmon Homes and Redrow Homes have submitted various planning applications. One was turned down and dismissed at a planning appeal. Another proposal for 900 houses and an industrial estate went to appeal in November 2011 and was allowed by the Secretary of State. Local residents began a Save Coate campaign, which drew attention to archaeological features and pointed out that development conflicted with several of Swindon Borough Council's environmental policies. A buffer zone around the park was proposed in late 2006, although campaigners and local residents did not think this was enough. In a newspaper poll, 20 per cent of readers said they believed that the new plans would help to protect Coate Water. The issue was further compounded when Coate Water was voted "Swindon's Favourite Place" by the local population. Archaeology The area has Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Romano-British and Medieval history that spans a period of 7000 years or more. The oldest known ancient monuments nearby are the scheduled Day House Lane stone circle and the Bronze Age burial mounds along the lane, one of