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Summary

The remains of a water-meadow of probable post-medieval date is visible on aerial photographs between 1945 and 1983 as a disconnected series of earthwork ditches to the north and north-west of Caulston. Their survival is uncertain.

Location

Protected Status

• SHINE: Earthwork remains of catch meadow system of probable post medieval date to north of Caulston

Other References/Statuses: none recorded

Monument Type(s) and Dates

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

Full description

Royal Air Force, 1945, RAF/106G/UK/967, RAF/106G/UK/967 RS 3109-3110 01-NOV-1945 (Aerial Photograph). SDV351060.

Water meadow gutters are visible as earthwork ditches. Map object partly based on this source.

Ordnance Survey, 1983, OS/83124, NMR OS/83124 V 383-384 04-JUL-1983 (Aerial Photograph). SDV351063.

Water meadow gutters are visible as earthwork ditches. Map object partly based on this source.

Environment Agency, 2001-2010, Lidar data JPEG SX54NE DSM, LIDAR SX54NE DSM Environment Agency 2001-2010 (Cartographic). SDV351195.

The wider channel north of Caulston is visible as an earthwork, but no other gutters are discernable.

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

A post medieval water meadow, known locally as a catchwater meadow system, is visible on aerial photographs between 1945 and 1983 as a series of disconnected earthwork ditches to the north and north-west Caulston, 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. A larger gutter, often called a headmain, tapped water from a source such as a 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 catchwater meadow systems are believed to date to the post medieval period, although it is possible that they were first developed in the medieval period.
The Caulston catch meadow covers a visible area of approximately 6 hectares of north-facing slope below the farmstead, with a wider channel heading roughly north from the farm, from which several contour gutters appear to derive. The source of water is not clear, but it is possible that the system partly operated as an ‘integrated’ catch meadow, in which manure from cattle sheds within the farmyard is mixed with the water supply to supply liquid manure to the pasture. Further to the west several additional possible gutters are visible, at least one of which appears to be taken directly off the watercourse that runs westwards down to Bridgend.
Some of the gutters are clearly defined in the 1940s aerial photographs, but at least one has been bisected by a later track, indicating that the system partially or wholly fell out of use by the mid twentieth century. The gutters to the west remain visible as earthwork ditches on aerial photographs taken in 1983, but they may since have been levelled, with the exception of the wider channel north of Caulston.

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 RS 3109-3110 01-NOV-1945.
SDV351063	Aerial Photograph: Ordnance Survey. 1983. OS/83124. Ordnance Survey. Photograph (Paper). NMR OS/83124 V 383-384 04-JUL-1983.
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
SDV351195	Cartographic: Environment Agency. 2001-2010. Lidar data JPEG SX54NE DSM. Environment Agency LiDAR data. Digital. LIDAR SX54NE DSM Environment Agency 2001-2010.

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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