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Summary

A water-meadow of probable 19th century date is visible on aerial photographs of the 1940s onward as a series of earthwork ditches to the north and east of Netton Farmhouse. 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 along the slope via a series of roughly parallel channels or gutters. When irrigation was required the gutters were blocked, causing water to overflow, 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 the March and April.

Location

Protected Status

• SHINE: Remains of catch meadow systems of probable 19th century date to south-west of Rowden Court

Other References/Statuses: none recorded

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• CATCH MEADOW (Post Medieval to Late 20th Century - 1540 AD to 2000 AD (Between))

Full description

Royal Air Force, 1946, RAF/CPE/UK/1890, RAF/CPE/UK/1890 FP 1081-1084 10-DEC-1946 (Aerial Photograph). SDV351061.

Water meadow gutters are visible as earthwork ditches.

Next Perspectives, 2002, Pan Government Agreement Aerial Photographs, Next Perspectives PGA Imagery SX5546 16-AUG-2002 (Aerial Photograph). SDV351189.

The earthwork ditches and banks are no longer clearly visible.

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

A probable post medieval date water meadow of a type known locally as a catch meadow system, is visible on aerial photographs of 1945 onwards as two or three roughly parallel earthwork ditches to the north and east of Netton Farmhouse, with which it was probably associated.
Catch meadows provided a simple, inexpensive but effective form of irrigation, designed to irrigate pasture by diverting water from a spring or stream along the slope via a series of roughly parallel channels or gutters. The topmost gutter, often called a headmain, tapped water from a source such as a pond, river, spring or spring-fed stream. When irrigation was required the headmain was dammed, causing water to overflow downslope, where the roughly parallel gutters distributed the flowing water 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. 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.
The Netton Farmhouse catch meadow covers roughly 1.5 hectares of north and west-facing combe slopes and might have operated as what has been called an ‘integrated’ catch meadow, in which manure from the cow sheds within the farmyard is mixed with the water supply to supply liquid manure to the pasture.
Most of the system gutter earthworks are not visible on digital images derived from aerial photographs taken in August 2002 and have probably been levelled by modern aagricultural activity.

Sources / Further Reading

SDV351061	Aerial Photograph: Royal Air Force. 1946. RAF/CPE/UK/1890. Royal Air Force Aerial Photograph. Photograph (Paper). RAF/CPE/UK/1890 FP 1081-1084 10-DEC-1946.
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
SDV351189	Aerial Photograph: Next Perspectives. 2002. Pan Government Agreement Aerial Photographs. Pan Government Agreement Aerial Photographs. Digital. Next Perspectives PGA Imagery SX5546 16-AUG-2002.

Associated Monuments

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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