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Summary

A small water-meadow of probable 19th century date is visible on aerial photographs of the 1940s as a series of short earthwork ditches on the slopes of a narrow combe to the east of Newton Ferrers. 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: none recorded

Other References/Statuses: none recorded

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• CATCH MEADOW (Post Medieval to XIX - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)

Full description

Royal Air Force, 1945, RAF/106G/UK/967, RAF/106G/UK/967 3160-1 01-NOV-1945 (Aerial Photograph). SDV351060.

Short catch meadow gutters are visible as earthwork ditches between 30 and 40 metres long and spaced approximately 15 metres apart.

Royal Air Force, 1965, RAF/58/7109, RAF/58/7109 F43 0117-0118 22-NOV-1965 (Aerial Photograph). SDV351186.

The catch meadow gutters are not visible.

Next Perspectives, 2007, Pan Government Agreement Aerial Photographs, Next Perspectives PGA Imagery SX5548 03-MAY-2007 (Aerial Photograph). SDV350196.

Slight earthwork remains of catch meadow gutter are visible.

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

A small water-meadow of probable 19th century date is visible on aerial photographs of the 1940s as a series of short earthwork ditches on the slopes of the narrow combe of an unnamed tributary to Newton Creek, to the east of Newton Ferrers.
Catch meadows provided a simple, inexpensive and effective form of irrigation, irrigating pasture by diverting water from a spring or stream along the contours of a slope via a series of roughly parallel channels, or gutters. When irrigation was required the gutters tapped water from a source such as a pond, river, spring or spring-fed stream. The water ran along the gutter and was caused to overflow, flowing downslope where the roughly parallel gutters ‘caught’ and redistributed 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.
It is unclear with which farm this system was associated; not being directly linked to a farmstead it operated as a ‘detached’ system.
Much of the system has probably been levelled by November 1965 but slight remains are visible on digital images derived from aerial photographs taken in May 2007.

Sources / Further Reading

SDV350196	Aerial Photograph: Next Perspectives. 2007. Pan Government Agreement Aerial Photographs. Pan Government Agreement Aerial Photographs. Digital. Next Perspectives PGA Imagery SX5548 03-MAY-2007.
SDV351060	Aerial Photograph: Royal Air Force. 1945. RAF/106G/UK/967. Royal Air Force Aerial Photograph. Photograph (Paper). RAF/106G/UK/967 3160-1 01-NOV-1945. [Mapped feature: #63323 ]
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
SDV351186	Aerial Photograph: Royal Air Force. 1965. RAF/58/7109. Royal Air Force Aerial Photograph. Photograph (Paper). RAF/58/7109 F43 0117-0118 22-NOV-1965.

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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