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Summary

A water-meadow of probable post-medieval to 19th century date is visible on aerial photographs of the 1940s onward as earthwork ditches on the south facing combe slopes to the south of Highlands, formerly Dudland Farm. Known locally as catchwork, catch-meadow or field-gutter systems, such water meadows are usually found on combe or hill slopes and are designed to irrigate pasture by diverting water from a spring or stream along water channels or gutters which were caused to overflow when irrigation was required. Their use was particularly important during the hungry gap between March and April.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses: none recorded

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• CATCH MEADOW (Post Medieval to XX - 1540 AD to 1904 AD)
• WATER MEADOW (Post Medieval to XX - 1540 AD to 1904 AD)

Full description

Ordnance Survey, 1880-1899, First Edition Ordnance 25 inch map (Cartographic). SDV336179.

The gutters to the south-west of the farmhouse are depicted but not annotated.

Ordnance Survey, 1904 - 1906, Second Edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch Map (Cartographic). SDV325644.

The gutters to the south-west of the farmhouse are depicted but not annotated.

Royal Air Force, 1947, RAF CPE/UK/1980, NMR RAF/CPE/UK/1980 3107-3108 11-APR-1947 (Aerial Photograph). SDV350276.

Catch meadow gutters are visible as earthworks to the south-west and south-east of Highlands.

GetMapping, 1999 - 2000, Millennium Map 1999-2000 Getmapping (Aerial Photograph). SDV321648.

The gutters to the west of the system remain visible as subtle earthworks.

Bluesky, 2006 - 2007, Bluesky aerial photographs 2006 - 2007 (Aerial Photograph). SDV341189.

The gutters are not clearly visible and some might have been levelled by the creation of an off-road vehicle track.

Hegarty, C. + Knight, S., 2011 - 2012, North Devon Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty National Mapping Programme Project (Interpretation). SDV349018.

A water-meadow of probable post-medieval to 19th century date is visible on aerial photographs of the 1940s onward as earthwork ditches on the south facing combe slopes to the south of Highlands, formerly Dudland Farm.
Such water-meadows, known as catchwork, catch-meadow or field-gutter systems, are usually found on combe or hill slopes and are designed to irrigate pasture by diverting water from a spring or stream. The water is carried along the valley sides via one or more channels or gutters and when irrigation was required the gutters were blocked, causing water to overflow from gutter to gutter, thereby irrigating the slopes. This film of water prevented the ground freezing during the winter and raised the temperature of the grass in the spring, thereby encouraging early growth, particularly important during the hungry gap of March and April.
The water meadow was possibly supplied with water from two sources; by tapping the stream that flows to the south at its western end and from a pond within the farmstead at its eastern side. The pond might support the interpretation that this system operated, at least in part, as an integrated catch meadow whereby manure from the farmyard was mixed to the water supply to be distributed on the slopes as liquid fertilizer.
The gutter to the west of the farmhouse is depicted on the Ordnance Survey First and Second Edition 25 inch maps and therefore date at least to the late 19th century and probably continued in use into the early twentieth century. The two gutters to the east of the farm are not depicted on either map but on aerial photographs of 1947 appear well maintained and to have been recently used.
A very slight earthwork remains visible at the western end of the system on digital images derived from aerial photographs taken in 1999-2001, but on digital images derived from aerial photographs taken in 2006-2007 the central portion of the system in the two fields to the immediate south-west of the farmhouse appear to have been levelled by the creation of an off-road vehicle track.

Sources / Further Reading

SDV321648	Aerial Photograph: GetMapping. 1999 - 2000. Millennium Map 1999-2000 Getmapping. Millennium Map. Photograph (Digital).
SDV325644	Cartographic: Ordnance Survey. 1904 - 1906. Second Edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch Map. Second Edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch Map. Map (Digital).
SDV336179	Cartographic: Ordnance Survey. 1880-1899. First Edition Ordnance 25 inch map. First Edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch Map. Map (Digital).
SDV341189	Aerial Photograph: Bluesky. 2006 - 2007. Bluesky aerial photographs 2006 - 2007. Bluesky. Photograph (Digital).
SDV349018	Interpretation: Hegarty, C. + Knight, S.. 2011 - 2012. North Devon Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty National Mapping Programme Project. AC Archaeology Report. ACD383/2/1. Digital.
	Linked documents:1
SDV350276	Aerial Photograph: Royal Air Force. 1947. RAF CPE/UK/1980. Royal Air Force Aerial Photograph. Photograph (Paper). NMR RAF/CPE/UK/1980 3107-3108 11-APR-1947.

Associated Monuments: none recorded

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV6132 - North Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty NMP Project

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