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Summary

A possible water-meadow of probable 19th century date is visible on aerial photographs of 1945 as a series of earthwork ditches on west facing slopes of a combe to the north of Wrescombe 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 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, thereby irrigating the slopes below. 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 (Early Medieval to Post Medieval - 1066 AD to 1750 AD (Between))

Full description

Royal Air Force, 1945, RAF/106G/UK/967, RAF/106G/UK/967 V 4153-4154 108 01-NOV-1945 (Aerial Photograph). SDV351060.

Catch meadow gutters are visible as earthwork ditches.

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

A possible water-meadow of probable 19th century date is visible on aerial photographs of 1945 as a series of earthwork ditches on the west facing slopes to the north of Wrescombe Farm, overlooking the River Yealm.
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. 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 water meadow system might have been associated with Wrescombe Farm to the south but it is not possible to be certain from the aerial photographic evidence alone. Not being directly linked to a farmstead it probably operated as a ‘detached’ system.
The earthwork gutters were located in a heavily shaded combe and might therefore be only partially visible and incompletely transcribed. They are not visible on later aerial photographs available to the survey and have probably been levelled.

Tingle, M., 2015, A Development at Collaton Cross, Devon. Results of an Archaeological Desk-based Assessment, Appendix A (Report - Assessment). SDV359863.

Sources / Further Reading

SDV351060	Aerial Photograph: Royal Air Force. 1945. RAF/106G/UK/967. Royal Air Force Aerial Photograph. Photograph (Paper). RAF/106G/UK/967 V 4153-4154 108 01-NOV-1945. [Mapped feature: #63339 ]
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
SDV359863	Report - Assessment: Tingle, M.. 2015. A Development at Collaton Cross, Devon. Results of an Archaeological Desk-based Assessment. Martin Tingle. Digital. Appendix A.

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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