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Summary

A water-meadow of probable 19th century date is visible on aerial photographs of the 1940s as a series of earthwork ditches on the slopes of a south facing slope to the north of Holy Cross Church, 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/CPE/UK/1890 RP 3101-3102 10-DEC-1946 (Aerial Photograph). SDV351060.

Catch meadow gutters are visble as earthwork ditches.

Next Perspectives, 2007, Pan Government Agreement Aerial Photographs, Next Perspectives PGA Imagery SX5448, SX5548 03-MAY-2007 (Aerial Photograph). SDV350196.

The catch meadow gutters are visible as slight earthworks.

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

A water-meadow of probable 19th century date is visible on aerial photographs of 1945 onwards as a series of earthwork ditches on the south facing slopes to the north of Holy Cross Church, 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.
This system might have been associated with the Court Farm, formerly located to the south of the catch meadow as depicted on the first edition 25inch Ordnance Survey map.
The fields in which the catch meadow is located have been developed as a camping site, but slight remains of the gutters are visible as earthworks 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 SX5448, SX5548 03-MAY-2007.
SDV351060	Aerial Photograph: Royal Air Force. 1945. RAF/106G/UK/967. Royal Air Force Aerial Photograph. Photograph (Paper). RAF/CPE/UK/1890 RP 3101-3102 10-DEC-1946. [Mapped feature: #63325 ]
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

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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