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Summary

A possible catch meadow of probable post medieval to nineteenth century date is visible on aerial photographs of the 1940s as parallel earthwork ditches on the gentle south-facing slopes to the south of Shute Farm, Bishopsteignton. Catch meadows are usually found on combe or hill slopes and are designed to irrigate pasture by diverting water from a spring or stream and passing it along the slope via a series of roughly parallel channels or gutters. When irrigation was required the gutters were blocked, causing water to overflow from gutter to gutter, thereby irrigating the slopes below.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses: none recorded

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• CATCH MEADOW (Post Medieval to XIX - 1540 AD to 1880 AD (Between))

Full description

Royal Air Force, 1946, RAF/CPE/UK/1824, RAF/CPE/UK1824 4143-4144 04-NOV-1946 (Aerial Photograph). SDV352344.

Three narrow and roughly earthwork ditches are visible, south of Newton Road.

Hegarty, C. + Knight, S. + Sims, R., 2013-2014, South Devon Coast Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey National Mapping Programme Project (Interpretation). SDV351146.

A possible catch meadow of probable post medieval to nineteenth century date is visible on aerial photographs of 1946 as parallel earthwork ditches on the gentle south-facing slopes to the south of Shute Farm, Bishopsteignton. Three gutters are visible on the gentle south-facing slopes south of Newton Road. They are not depicted on the First Edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch maps which could support the interpretation that the water meadow had passed out of by the end of the nineteenth century. However, the ditches appear relatively well defined in 1946 which might support the interpretation the system was maintained into the mid twentieth century.
Most catch meadow systems are believed to date to the post medieval period, although it is likely that they were first developed in the medieval period and many continued in use into the twentieth century. Catch meadows provided a simple, inexpensive and effective form of irrigation. When irrigation was required water was diverted from a source such as a pond, river, spring or spring-fed stream and passed along the meadow slopes via one or more of the gutters, which was then caused to overflow. The lower, roughly parallel gutters then ‘caught’ and redistributed water passing it evenly over the surface of a meadow below. The gently flowing water prevented the ground freezing in winter and encouraged early growth in spring, thereby providing extra feed for livestock, particularly important during the hungry gap of the March and April.
The gutters are not visible on later aerial photographs available to the survey and might have been levelled during post-war agricultural intensification.

Sources / Further Reading

SDV351146	Interpretation: Hegarty, C. + Knight, S. + Sims, R.. 2013-2014. South Devon Coast Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey National Mapping Programme Project. AC Archaeology Report. Digital.
	Linked documents:1
SDV352344	Aerial Photograph: Royal Air Force. 1946. RAF/CPE/UK/1824. Royal Air Force Aerial Photograph. Photograph (Paper). RAF/CPE/UK1824 4143-4144 04-NOV-1946.

Associated Monuments: none recorded

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV6127 - Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey National Mapping Programme (NMP) for South-West England - South Coast Devon (Ref: ACD618)

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