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Summary

A possible catch meadow of probable post-medieval to 20th century date was visible on aerial photographs of the 1940s as narrow curvilinear and roughly parallel earthwork ditches on the south facing slopes to the south of Scotchayes Plantation, Combe Raleigh parish.
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 1840 AD? (Between))

Full description

Royal Air Force, 1947, RAF/CPE/UK/1974, RAF/CPE/UK/1974 F20 2446-2447 11-APR-1947 (Aerial Photograph). SDV356127.

Shallow curvilinear earthwork ditches were visible.

Ordnance Survey, 1982, OS/82218 V, OS/82218 V 1152-1153 28-AUG-1982 (Aerial Photograph). SDV359504.

The gutters remained visible as subtle earthworks.

Next Perspectives, 2014, Aerial Photography for Great Britain, Next Perspectives APGB Imagery ST1502 08-SEP-2014 (Aerial Photograph). SDV359479.

The gutters were not identified as earthworks and had probably been levelled.

Hegarty, C. + Knight, S. + Sims, R., 2016-2018, The Blackdown Hills AONB and East Devon River Catchments National Mapping Programme Project (Interpretation). SDV359463.

A possible catch meadow of probable post-medieval to 20th century date was visible on aerial photographs of the 1940s as narrow curvilinear and roughly parallel earthwork ditches on the south facing slopes to the south of Scotchayes Plantation, Combe Raleigh parish.
Many 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 often 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 system was probably supplied with water from the spring fed stream that flows southwards from a spring some 225 metres to the north. It might have been associated with a farmstead previously located immediately to the west, known as Scotshayes, Scotchayes or Skittishayes, that was cleared at some point between circa 1840 and circa 1880.
The gutters remained visible as earthworks on aerial photographs of 1982, but could not be identified on digital images derived from aerial photographs of 2014, and might have been levelled.

Sources / Further Reading

SDV356127	Aerial Photograph: Royal Air Force. 1947. RAF/CPE/UK/1974. Royal Air Force Aerial Photograph. Photograph (Paper). RAF/CPE/UK/1974 F20 2446-2447 11-APR-1947. [Mapped feature: #74330 ]
SDV359463	Interpretation: Hegarty, C. + Knight, S. + Sims, R.. 2016-2018. The Blackdown Hills AONB and East Devon River Catchments National Mapping Programme Project. Historic England Research Report. Digital.
	Linked documents:2
SDV359479	Aerial Photograph: Next Perspectives. 2014. Aerial Photography for Great Britain. Digital. Next Perspectives APGB Imagery ST1502 08-SEP-2014.
SDV359504	Aerial Photograph: Ordnance Survey. 1982. OS/82218 V. Ordnance Survey. Photograph (Paper). OS/82218 V 1152-1153 28-AUG-1982.

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV7508 - The Blackdown Hills AONB and East Devon River Catchments National Mapping Programme (NMP) project (Ref: ACD1228)

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