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Summary

A possible simple catch meadow of probable 19th century date was visible on aerial photographs of 1947 onwards as narrow earthwork ditches or gutters on the north-west facing slopes below Littletown Farm, Luppitt. The ditch has probably been levelled.
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 XX - 1540 AD to 1947 AD (Between))

Full description

Royal Air Force, 1947, RAF/CPE/UK/1974, RAF/CPE/UK/1974 RS 4301-4302 11-APR-1947 (Aerial Photograph). SDV356127.

Narrow curvilinear earthwork ditches were visible. Map object based partly on this source.

Ordnance Survey, 1982, OS/82219 V, OS/82219 V 1652 03-SEP-1982 (Aerial Photograph). SDV357675.

Narrow curvilinear earthwork ditches were visible. Map object based partly on this source.

Next Perspectives, 2010, Aerial Photography for Great Britain, Next Perspectives APGB Imagery ST1606 4-MAY-2010 (Aerial Photograph). SDV359490.

Narrow curvilinear earthwork ditches remain visible; some are partly obscured by vegetation. Map object based partly on this source.

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

Four narrow curvilinear ditches were visible as earthworks on aerial photographs of 1947 on the north-west facing slopes below Littletown Farm, Luppitt.
The earthworks are interpreted as the possible gutters of a catch meadow of 19th century date. Catch meadows are usually found on combe or hill slopes. 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.
In this instance it is unclear from where the water was abstracted for irrigation purposes, but numerous spring fed streams rise to the east. The possible gutters did not appear to have recently been used on aerial photographs of April 1947, possibly supporting the interpretation that the catch meadow had passed out of use by this date. The earthworks can be seen as slight earthworks on digital images derived from aerial photographs of 2010.

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 RS 4301-4302 11-APR-1947.
SDV357675	Aerial Photograph: Ordnance Survey. 1982. OS/82219 V. Ordnance Survey. Photograph (Paper). OS/82219 V 1652 03-SEP-1982.
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
SDV359490	Aerial Photograph: Next Perspectives. 2010. Aerial Photography for Great Britain. Aerial Photography for Great Britain Aerial Photographs. Digital. Next Perspectives APGB Imagery ST1606 4-MAY-2010.

Associated Monuments: none recorded

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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